How EFF cracked printers' "hidden dots" code in 2005

Cory Doctorow 7:27 am Sat Jun 10, 2017

NSA whistleblower Reality Winner may have been caught thanks to a hidden pattern of dots that color printers bury in every page they print, as an assistance to law enforcement agencies.

The existence of these dots was long-rumored, but it wasn't until 2005, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation broke the code on a Xerox printer's output, that the scope, method and capabilities of this technique came to light.

The Washington Post tells the exciting story of that technological forensic work, which still ripples through today.

Then, in October 2005, about a year after PC World's story, a research team led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation cracked the code for one printer, the Xerox DocuColor. A technologist from the advocacy group, along with an intern and two volunteers, compared the dots on a series of test printouts submitted by supporters. They quickly deduced how to read the pattern.

As expected, the dots indicated the datge and time a page was printed, as well as the printer's serial number. The foundation then installed a decoder program on its website that the public could use, and started publishing running lists of printers that did or did not display the dots.

h

How tech sleuths cracked the mysterious code that turns your printer into a spying tool
[Derek Hawkins/Washington Post]

Check out this unusual but delicious potato

"Someone clearly took great care to make sure it did not break," writes in Boing Boing reader Chelsea. "It was delicious." READ THE REST
Klaus Nomi doing "Total Eclipse" in 1981

Every once in a while it's a good idea to remind yourself that this otherworldly human existed. Image: Screengrab READ THE REST
Meet the artist whose genetic mutation means she can see 100 times more colors than you

Concetta Antico is the world's most famous tetrachromat, meaning she has four types of color receptors (cone cells) in her eyes. Most of us have three types. As a result of this mutation, Antico can see around 100 million colors, 100 times more than other people. Antico is an artist and she says that her… READ THE REST
Teach yourself how to play guitar with the Jamstik trainer

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Has learning how to play the guitar been on your bucket list? Learning how to play guitar should be simple, fun, and accessible, but with the average guitar costing $600 — lessons not included, you might… READ THE REST
Make room for important and large files with Prism Drive cloud storage

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. With most of our daily activities happening online, no one will ever complain about having too much storage space. On the contrary, it's frustrating when you run out of storage or have… READ THE REST
This 13-in-1 media hub brings your favorite content to the big screen

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. We're sure our parents had a wild time back in the day without modern media, and to some degree, we wish we could be a little less plugged in. But then we… READ THE REST