Anilrgowda

Does Windows XP have built in Spyware by default?

Well, it all depends on what your definition of spyware is. If your defination includes, "any technology that aids in gathering or recording information about a persons actions on a computer without their knowledge", then the answer might be "yes".

There is a recording feature built into Windows XP that records and captures the actions of the user. This is by default! If you were to install Windows XP from scratch, this feature would be turned on by default.

The information is stored in something called "User Assist Keys in the Windows registry. Sometimes, this is referred to as "Count Keys", since you have to click on Count to get to the keys in the registry.

How can you get to this information on your computer if you're running Windows XP?

Run regedit:
Start --> Run --> regedit

Navigate your way to UserAssist:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER->Software->Microsoft->Windows->CurrentVersion->Explorer->UserAssist

Fully expand the UserAssist entries, and click on "Count".

You're looking for information under the "Name" column.

Here is a sample of some of the encrypted information you will find.



If you've followed along, you're probably thinking, "wait, this isn't spyware, all I see is a bunch of random junk and it appears to be encrypted. Way to go Microsoft!".

Well, you're right, it is encrypted. Unfortunately, the encryption mechanism used is the "Caesar Cipher". Yes, this is the same Caesar cipher that Julius Caesar used to communiate with his army!

For some reason, Microsoft decided to use ROT13 to encrypt this information. ROT13 is based on the Caesar cipher.

Basically, anyone who can say the alphabet and can count to 13 can crack this cipher.

How can you decipher this information quickly?

You can do it by hand, write your own ROT13 program, or you can use one of many online ROT13 websites that will do it for you instantly:

www.rot13.com

For fun, try to decipher some of the entries that you found in the registry on your computer. Have fun!

Check out this tutorial/lab on ROT13: