EFF exposes laser printers' hidden secret code

[emad]

EFF exposes laser printers' hidden secret code
20 October 2005 7:40 by Dela

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has managed to crack a secret printer code with the Xerox DocuColor line of laser printers that allows the U.S. Secret Service to track down individuals who produce counterfeit documents. While it was a known fact that the U.S. Government had an agreement with several major printer manufacturers (including Xerox, Canon and others), the extent of the information that can be read from a secret code was never disclosed.

"We've found that the dots from at least one line of printers encode the date and time your document was printed, as well as the serial number of the printer," said EFF Staff Technologist Seth David Schoen. The serial number of the printer could be used to track the customer who bought it. The code is a series of dots printed onto the pages. The dots are yellow and less than one millimeter in diameter but can be seen on the pages.

A blue light, magnifying glass or microscope can be used to see the dots properly. The manufacturers never really say anything on record about the code but this is what was said to OUT-LAW Magazine earlier this year: "Epson is cooperating closely with industry groups and the relevant authorities in each country to prevent counterfeiters use its products in illegal activities. However, due to the sensitive nature of this issue we are unable to comment about the exact measures that are being taken."
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6960.cfm

[Ezlivin]

1. So that's why my new Epson requires me to fill a cartridge with my blood

I thought it was just for richer reds...

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. This is just fascinating! Thanks for posting. n/t

[kurth]

3. It's not just laser printers

Other news articles have mentioned encoding for inkjet printers:

(AP 10/19) .... David Skidmore, a spokesman at the Federal Reserve Board, said that the technology, known as the Counterfeit Deterrence System, was aimed mostly at personal computers and ink-jet printers ...

[MadHound]

4. This initially started in the late eighties with color copiers

I used to be in the biz, and one of our techs clued me in about this starting in the late eighties. The Secret Service, and others, were freaking out about just how damn realistic these copiers could be, and were afraid that the US would drown in a flood of funny money. Thus, they instituted this measure in the late eighties after some serious negotiations with the SS. Other copier companies followed suit, and then the printer companies.

In the late ninties even further safeguards were built into copiers, namely that if a copier detects a bill on the glass, it will either not print, or simply print out a black page. I really think that this is sufficient protection, but now that they've gotten their foot in the door, they're not going to give up the dots. This is an easy way for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to track down a particular printer and person who used it.

The trouble with all of these safeguards is that all it has done is run the "mom and pop" counterfeiting operations out of business. Any other player is going to figure out how to reprogram the copier or printer to both print and leave out the coding dots, for it really isn't that hard to do.

But this is a nice little dog and pony show to soothe the masses that their money is good, and meanwhile keep quiet the dirty little secret that aprox. one percent of our currency is fake, around 32 million dollars that are out there in circulation.

[DBoon]

5. Didn't they do that in the Soviet Union with typewriters?

At least they told me that when I was a kid in the 1960s. They had a file with samples from every typewriter so authors of contraband manuscripts could be tracked down. As explained during those cold war days, this was because they lived under an evil dictatorship, instead of the freedom we had in the USA.

Now tell me, who REALLY won the cold war?