busted for keycatcher

Major Variola (ret.) mv at cdc.gov
Wed Mar 24 09:41:23 PST 2004


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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-wiretap24mar24,1,760243.story?coll=la-editions-orange

Man Indicted in Wiretap Case
The defendant is accused of recording the computer keystrokes of a
workplace colleague.
By Regine Labossiere
Times Staff Writer

March 24, 2004

A Huntington Beach man Tuesday became the first person in the nation to
be charged with illegally using an electronic device to record someone's
computer keystrokes, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Larry Lee Ropp, 46, on one
count of wiretapping, said Thom Mrozek a spokesman for the U.S.
attorney's office in Los Angeles.

When Ropp worked at Bristol West Insurance Group/Coast National
Insurance Co. in Anaheim, he secretly installed a "Key Katcher" into the
computer of the vice president's secretary, Mrozek alleged. The device
was plugged into the computer to record every keystroke the secretary
made, he alleged.

Ropp was fired in September for violating the company's time-clock
policy, Mrozek said. After he was fired, Ropp called a company employee
and asked her to remove what he called a "toy" from the computer.

The employee told her supervisor, Mrozek said. The firm's technology
department found that the device was not a toy, Mrozek said, and called
the FBI.

Bristol is involved in a class-action civil suit brought by former
employees. Information from FBI interviews suggested that Ropp was
trying to obtain information for the plaintiffs in that lawsuit, Mrozek
said.

Ropp could not be reached for comment.

Mrozek said devices such as the Key Katcher are commercially available
and are legal as long as they are used on personal property. Parents
sometimes use them to monitor their children's computer activity.

The devices can be used to steal private information, company secrets
and passwords.

Ropp was arrested Feb. 25 and released on bond that day, Mrozek said. A
conviction could bring Ropp a maximum of five years in federal prison.

Because the computer was hooked up to the Internet and was connected to
company branches in Arizona and Florida, Ropp was indicted under federal
law, Mrozek said.

Ropp admitted to the FBI that he used the Key Katcher, but he said the
California Department of Insurance had hired him as a whistle-blower.
Department representatives denied that claim.





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