Schneier on Security

Fay • August 26, 2021 1:44 PM

@Chelloveck

In this case, such a seal wouldn’t help. It’s not like people are buying these unwittingly and would choose differently if they knew a specialized driver was required. Razer makes expensive gaming-oriented products. People buy them specifically because they have non-standard features which require specialized drivers.

Not really. They buy them for features, and maybe grudgingly accept that they’ll need drivers. It’s unlikely that the features would, in principle, “require” drivers. The manufacturers might require them due to poor design, or might (with Microsoft’s help) push drivers that aren’t actually required. I’ve seen lots of devices that work just fine with no special drivers on Linux, but trigger all kinds of crapware when plugged into a Windows machine.

As others have pointed out, the point is somewhat moot, because there’s no reason to think that it will be the willing buyers of these devices being attacked.

@Fazal, does Logitech put decent microswitches in those mice? I doubt it, as the ones in the much more expensive Marble Mouse trackball rarely last a year. (It takes all of 10 minutes to fix—much easier than repeated warranty claims, while avoiding the interdiction risks—though obviously I can’t recommend Logitech products to people that don’t solder. They use Chinese Omron switches, which for 10-15 years have been total garbage. I don’t know if that relates to manufacturing era or location, but the Japanese Omron switches in the old Microsoft Intellimice are usually good for 5-10 years of heavy use.)