We need a restricted keyboard...help!

cbmeeks

The company I work for is supporting a kiosk computer terminal at a museum. This computer has web access to one website (external).

However, people at the keyboard (mostly punk teenagers) are figuring out how to go to certain websites for public display. I think you get the idea.

Someone wrote a program that is basically a wrapper for a webbrowser (windows) so that they don't get an address bar. But with some clever uses of ALT's and TABS, etc people are breaking the app and going other places.

Is there anyway we can eliminate those keys period? No cheesy software hack? I have suggested opening the keyboard and removing the connections for those keys. Maybe make them where they could bang the key with a hammer but it would never touch the membrane.

I basically want to disable everything except the A-Z and 0-1 keys.

If a keyboard existed that only had those then it would be better.

BTW, the computer itself is locked away so no danger of swapping keyboards.

Thanks!

cbmeeks

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Paul Baker

I see two different ways to do this, the first is outlined in this Microsoft App note: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302092

It details how to inhibit the Sleep function present on a lot of newer keyboards, but I imagine you could expand this to disable other keys. There are other sites detailing on how to write and install an "upper keyboard filter driver" such as this site: http://www.vijaymukhi.com/security/rootkit/writingakeyboardfilterdriver.htm

The other method would be to install a hardware keyboard filter, this would be a microcontroller (such as the SX) that would have the keyboard plugged into and then plug into the computer, it would sit listening to the keyboard and either whitelist (allow through) or blacklist (block) keystrokes.



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cbmeeks

I like the SX idea (I even thought of that myself) but I don't currently know how to capture keystrokes.

Any suggestions?

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Paul Baker

Ok found an easier solution, there is a program called autohotkey, and heres a page on how to remap keys on the board:
http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/misc/Remap.htm

so by simply writing a script to remap the critical keys, you should be able to thwart the punks.

Alternatively·you could install a program which parents use to restrict a kid's ability to access the internet, it only allows accepted websites to be accessed, Finally you can disable the DNS server, and only have the one wesite defined in a hardcoded DNS file kept on the local computer, unless the kids remember the number address they wont be able to access it.

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Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 6/7/2006 8:26:04 PM GMT

Gadgetman

I doubt that the autohotkey system can disable the Ctrl+Alt+Delete combination as that isn't handled by the usual keyboard drivers. And if it can't catch that the users may be able to get the taskmanager up, and potentially kill the autohotkey system.

Do they NEED a keyboard on that PC?

We had a similar problem here in Norway(I work for the Public Roads Administration, which is among other things our version of the DMV) where we wanted to run the theoretical part of the drivers test on a PC, but also wanted to stop anyone from cheating.
What we ended up with is a PC running WinXP, which autologins into a special account which have no real rights on the machine. It starts IE instead of the explorer, and loads a special webpage. That page loads a script which stops all attempts on right-clicking, and Ie is set to run wih no menus at all.
Policies blocks the taskmanager, run command and just about anything else.
And just to be on the safe side, the PCs have no keyboard. All input is by clicking on icons in IE.

This has been running for a few years now, and I don't know of anyone managing to break the security, yet...
(Break the equipment, yes, but not the security)
Of course, we have to ban the use of cell-phones in the room.
(Anyone caught with one in plain view finds themselves disqualified and have to wait for 6months for their next attempt... )

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cbmeeks

I will have to check on the keyboard actually being needed.

No one around here likes the application this guy wrote. So maybe we can eliminate it.

thanks

cbmeeks

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Paul Baker

Here's an explanation of the PS/2 communication: http://www.computer-engineering.org/ps2protocol/

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Dunnsept

you don't need a wrapper at all. you just run IE in kiosk mode and it won't have any menus, address bars or whatever. You can also set IE to be the interface for that user instead of explorer. The problem with all of this is that ctrl-alt-del is treated differently from any other key strokes. To stop that you would need to install a keyboard filter. lots of source code available, but if you have any sort of anti-virus, likely it will complain as this is how key-loggers work.
You can lock down the machine with group policy and disallow task manager and lots of other things (I setup the group policy at work and have a few kiosk type machines)
none of the kiosk software we found did a very good job at things and I think you will need to have a combination to get it setup properly.
One thought would be to take a keyboard, remove all of those keys and then mount it IN the display with a sort of template/keyboard cut-out to cover the spots where the removed keys were.
If you would like more info on the policy settings, PM me and I have tons of info on it. I even have (cough cough) source code for some kernel mode keyboard drivers (wink wink, nudge nudge, know-what-I mean?)

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