At the moment, the chip forgers concentrate on the Pentium II with 266 MHz. They deliver it as 300-MHz-version either remarked or with a counterfeit casing. The possible increase in value per processor is about $160. With the test program "ctP2Info" a user is able to determine by himself whether his computer is equipped with an overclocked Pentium II.

"But the test program is no substitute for counterfeit protection, that c't demands since some time", says Andreas Stiller from c't. "Intel alone has it under control to stop the frauds with effective technical measures." The protection mechanisms implemented so far by no means would be sufficient.

Since four years now c't reports about forged processors, that come onto the market in Germany in ever new versions. The industrial production methods proof that this is a matter of large scale frauds. But the chip producer from California claims the counterfeits detected so far to be single pieces. The company plays down the scale of the forgeries, that are quite lucrative for the forgers.

To get an exact overview of the scale of the current fraud, c't asks its readers in the current issue 9/98 to inform the editorial staff about exposed Pentium II. The corresponding form is available on the Internet (http://www.heise.de/ct/ctp2poll). In addition, the magazine recommends to its readers to complain to their dealers about the counterfeit processors.

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