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Don't panic
Oct 19, 2005, 05:45 PM
Did you know that, every time a page is printed by a laser color printer, a semi-invisible tracking dot pattern is also printed, which allows to identify the serial number of the printer, and the date and time of the print?
(some claims it applies to copiers and cheaper printers too)
Was this common knowledge?

it's supposedly designed to prevent counterfeit, and the FBI is in charge of the decoding/identification of printers.

well, apparently the 'secret code' has just been cracked, at least for some printer models

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051017/full/051017-9.html
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118664,00.asp

Big Brother was an amateur!
<meanwhile waves to the guys with dark glasses reading this>


iMeowbot
Oct 19, 2005, 06:28 PM
Was this common knowledge?
Yep. Well, it was common knowledge among nerds who pay attention to things like that anyway :D
Sun Baked
Oct 19, 2005, 06:31 PM
Yep. Well, it was common knowledge among nerds who pay attention to things like that anyway :DThat would probably make it common nerd lore ...
watcher2001
Oct 19, 2005, 09:40 PM
Could this also be used to track where ranson notes were printed? Just curious/ I am gonna kidnap a fat kid :) Just kidding...
MongoTheGeek
Oct 19, 2005, 11:10 PM
Could this also be used to track where ranson notes were printed? Just curious/ I am gonna kidnap a fat kid :) Just kidding...

Yeah, Smart people xerox their notes at Kinko's

;)
mac-er
Oct 20, 2005, 12:14 PM
Yeah, Smart people xerox their notes at Kinko's

;)
That is actually dumber to print it at a public place like that.
They would know the date, time, printer the pages were printed at Kinko's...then all they have to do is go and get security tapes of that time and see who was printing it.
Applespider
Oct 20, 2005, 12:21 PM
That is actually dumber to print it at a public place like that.
They would know the date, time, printer the pages were printed at Kinko's...then all they have to do is go and get security tapes of that time and see who was printing it.

Except CCTV tapes are usually overwritten with a week or two. So, as long as you plan your crime ahead of time, you should get away with it - particularly if you copied them at a Kinko's in another city.
mcadam
Oct 20, 2005, 12:45 PM
If U.S. government can persuade these companies to build in such functions - who else might be helping them like that?!

I have some faint memory of a story surfacing in medias someyears ago about some somethings in Windows called CIA... or FBI... anybody's knows what I'm talking about and if it's for real?

A
Lacero
Oct 20, 2005, 12:47 PM
Pay cash for your inkjet printer in an out-of-state store, should you decide to pursue 'criminal' activities. ;)

You might also need to be in incognito should the store's surveillance camera catches you with a date stamp of the purchase.
iMeowbot
Oct 20, 2005, 01:17 PM
I have some faint memory of a story surfacing in medias someyears ago about some somethings in Windows called CIA... or FBI... anybody's knows what I'm talking about and if it's for real?
NSAKEY (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY). Opinions differ on why it is there and Microsoft never really explained it.
wordmunger
Oct 20, 2005, 01:19 PM
Pay cash for your inkjet printer in an out-of-state store, should you decide to pursue 'criminal' activities. ;)

Or just steal it. You are a criminal, after all!

Edit: not you, Lacero -- I meant the hypothetical "you" out there somewhere reading this.
Lacero
Oct 20, 2005, 01:21 PM
The BTK Killer was caught when he brazenly believed he could get away with murder by sending his CD-R to the FBI to prove he killed his victims. Little did he know, his computer serial number and other incriminating data was digitally added to the CD he sent them.
MongoTheGeek
Oct 20, 2005, 04:44 PM
They thought of things like this 40 years ago. Heinlein in the moon is a harsh mistress had the conspirators rotate typewriters so that the distinctive elements can't be recognized.

Kinkos is great for people with ill intents. Burn the CD-Rs there etc.
LethalWolfe
Oct 21, 2005, 04:13 AM
Except CCTV tapes are usually overwritten with a week or two. So, as long as you plan your crime ahead of time, you should get away with it - particularly if you copied them at a Kinko's in another city.

I've never worked a at a Kinkos, but when I worked at Blockbuster the CC tapes were kept for 3 or 4 months. A week or two seems very short especially sense one of the main reasons to have CC cameras is to help prevent theft. If there is employee theft it could be weeks before a noticeable pattern shows up, and complete store inventories are done every month or two. If you notice a unaccounted for discrepancy between the inventories you get to go back and shuttle thru a lot of CC tapes. Fun.


Lethal
MongoTheGeek
Oct 21, 2005, 07:46 AM
I've never worked a at a Kinkos, but when I worked at Blockbuster the CC tapes were kept for 3 or 4 months. A week or two seems very short especially sense one of the main reasons to have CC cameras is to help prevent theft. If there is employee theft it could be weeks before a noticeable pattern shows up, and complete store inventories are done every month or two. If you notice a unaccounted for discrepancy between the inventories you get to go back and shuttle thru a lot of CC tapes. Fun.


Lethal

How much shrinkage is ignorable?