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Asus Ships Cracking Software On Recovery DVD

Posted by timothy on from the cold-sweat-in-taiwan dept.

Barence writes "Asus is accidentally shipping software crackers and confidential documents on the recovery DVDs that come with its laptops. The startling discovery was made by a PC Pro reader whose antivirus software was triggered by a key cracker for the WinRAR compression software, which was located on the recovery DVD for his Asus laptop. Along with the key cracker the disc also contained confidential Asus documents including a PowerPoint presentation that details 'major problems' identified by the company, including application compatibility issues. The UK reader is not alone, either — several users in the US and Australia have also found suspicious files on Asus discs."

10 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. Someone Is Getting Fired by maz2331 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Someone is getting fired, and Asus is going to be getting sued.

    1. Re:Someone Is Getting Fired by petwalrus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I suspect perhaps they already were getting fired anyhow and decided to leave behind a 'legacy' they could be remembered for.

    2. Re:Someone Is Getting Fired by umrguy76 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I can blow $150 on lunch when I'm traveling without even needing to get my immediate manager to sign off an approve the reimbursement as long as I don't spend more than $250/day on meals/incidentals/entertainment, but getting reimbursed $29.95 for some shareware app I can't live without requires approval by the vice-president (my boss' boss' boss), who requires our department to submit purchase requests in batches no more than once per quarter.

      Does that $150 lunch reside on your company's network?

    3. Re:Someone Is Getting Fired by MadMidnightBomber · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Personally, I think 99% of free software's appeal to people who work for big, oblivious corporations is the fact that it's not just free as in beer or liberty... it's also free of bureaucratic grief.

      Plus licensing. Ever played with flexlm, or tried to figure out how many Microsoft CALs you need? No need with GNU - saves a ton of time and potential liability.

      --
      "It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
  2. Cue lawsuit.... by CdBee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Asus, however accidentally / carelessly, have just made themselves the obvious target of a lawsuit for distribution of tools for copyright infringement...

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    1. Re:Cue lawsuit.... by MadJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Did Microsoft get sued for its use of a cracked version of Sound Forge?
      No?
      Then why will ASUS be sued?

      --
      80 CC D8 AF AE D3 AB 54 B7 2E CE 67 C7
  3. It will be interesting to see by mandark1967 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How the cracking software got onto the restore DVD as well as why it was even present at Asus in the first place.

    I can't imagine why a company like Asus would even "need" to crack software keys when they can, most likely, get it at a discount. I mean, it's not like Asus is a barely-scraping-by company that is unable to afford even simple tools.

    --
    Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
  4. Cracking tool? What about the docs? by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A directory containing a large number of confidential Microsoft documents for PC manufacturers, including associated keys and program files

    I would think that this would be of much more interest than some cracking tool one can download. Even the Asus source code should be of more interest as it could be used to improve FLOSS support.

    --
    There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
  5. Goes to show how PERVASIVE piracy is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you can't keep it off your distribution CDs, you just have WAAAAAAY too much of it around.

  6. It happens, when QC isn't very high. Example: by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Several years ago I worked in a very large and respectable company that shall remain unnamed (but whose name rhymes with, say, "Nokia"...) and we just shipped our turnkey system with our software AND with the source code. And the company wasn't (and still isn't, AFAIK, but don't work for them since a long time) an open-source company :o) It was a screwup by the consultant guys in India.

    I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often, knowing the level of QC that happens in India and China.

    oh, right, I forgot that it does indeed happen. Even nowadays (de javu).

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.