Is your hardware spying on you

Spyware in your hardware.......

Here is the article: in Computer Shopper, June, 2005, page 131. "Is your hardware spying on you?" by Nancy A. Feldman, in the "consumer alert" column.

quote

"That new piece of hardware you just connected may have surrepbreastiously installed a little unwanted extra. That's what Richard J. Hucker discovered when he started up his new 120 GB Western Digital drive. 'It was detected by Spybot--Search & Destroy,' recalls Hucker. The 'it' he's refering to is BackWeb Lite, a product some hardware and software vendors employ to initiate atuomatic software updates. That doesn't sound so bad, provided you want your PC updated without your permission."

"But that's not all the software can do. Vendors can configure it to perform tasks like automatically sending ads and product promotions, collecting data from your PC, and logging your every keystroke."

Me, I'm wondering if a hacker can break into your computer and change this configuration after the fact.

Much farther down in the article is the following:

"Uninstalls are not so easy. Another common complaint on the forums is how difficult it is to eliminate BackWeb Lite. According to posts, uninstalling it is not a simple matter of clicking a checkbox in an antispyware or adware program such as ..... Some posts report the program reinstalling itself over and over again, while others report problems after an uninstall."

Me, I'm wondering if there is a BackWeb Lite, then is there a BackWeb Heavy? And...what does it do?

for additional snot on that article, perhaps they have it on line at

computershopper.com

I did not check.

I'm glad I still use retro hardware and software.