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Malware Found On Brand-New Windows Netbook
An anonymous reader alerts us to an interesting development that Kaspersky Labs stumbled across. They purchased a new M&A Companion Touch netbook in order to test a new anti-virus product targeted at the netbook segment, and discovered three pieces of malware on the factory-sealed netbook. A little sleuthing turned up the likely infection scenario — at the factory, someone was updating Intel drivers using a USB flash drive that was infected with a variant of the AutoRun worm. "Installed along with the worm was a rootkit and a password stealer that harvests log-in credentials for online games such as World of Warcraft. ... To ensure that a new PC is malware-free, [Kaspersky] recommended that before users connect the machine to the Internet, they install security software, update it by retrieving the latest definition file on another computer, and transferring that update to the new system, then running a full antivirus scan."
Doesn't seem like an accident.
Yes, because any average Joe user is capable of utilising that 'solution'.
To ensure that a new PC is malware-free, [Kaspersky] recommended that before users connect the machine to the Internet, they install security software, update it by retrieving the latest definition file on another computer, and transferring that update to the new system, then running a full antivirus scan
And people say Linux is user unfriendly? I never use Windows to visit banking/credit card/money websites, and I advise all my friends to do the same.
Qxe4
But trusting another computer depends on knowing it's clean of malware. I'd think it a better bet for Kaspersky to offer bootable thumb drives with a slim OS and their software, allowing users to scan any machine with a known good device.
Wrong netbook OS. Try one of these next time: http://www.target.com/ASUS-8-9-Netbook-Computer-Linux/dp/B001E1PVU8/qid=1243113200/ref=br_1_7/190-1275134-0351843?ie=UTF8&node=1243621011&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1 Thankyoudrivethrough!
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
You could always reformat the darned thing from scratch using a known-good version of whatever OS you're going to be using.
Honestly, ever since Vista became the de-facto OS shipped with new computers, I've been doing that, anyway.
Kythe
Oh, how I love Kaspersky's constant press releases.
"OMG Virus! Buy our product!"
All they seem capable of for marketing is different stunts related to finding viruses in weird places. Come on. Seriously.
they install security software, update it by retrieving the latest definition file on another computer, and transferring that update to the new system, then running a full antivirus scan.
Just be sure to scan the thumb drive so you're not infecting it!
Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
I kind of figured that computer manufacturers had hard drive arrays to clone a pre-made installation. Pull each drive off the rack, put it in the computer, and make sure it boots, then box it.
They're really installing drivers by having some schmuck walk around with a USB stick?
Isn't WoW's installation & update footprint larger then a netbook's storage capacity any ways?
I'm so glad to see this innovative feature finally being boldly embraced by an OEM. Until now, it's been sheer drudgery, waiting the twelve minutes or so it takes to get a new Windows install infected just felt like forEVar!
Caveat Utilitor
The thinnest, lightest, most-mobile way to have your identity stolen yet! Unless of course iPod shuffles start coming with rootkits to steal the title...
Would somebody out there please explain why AutoRun was ever considered a Good Idea? I know that before I got rid of Windows and went Linux only, one of the first things I'd do on a new computer was disable it.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
"install security software, update it by retrieving the latest definition file on another computer, and transferring that update to the new system, then running a full antivirus scan.""
And be sure not to use an infected thumb drive m'kay?
Autorun worm, Windows...thats only 2...where is the third malware item?
"Malware on a Windows machine" is a tautology and a Slashdot headline.
Slashdot, it has become what IT is.
Wouldn't have happened if they had ordered that netbook with Linux pre-installed!
You repeat yourself.
If I buy a laptops I use them for work and learning, so they naturally run linux.
why would I want to buy a laptop for gaming and put windows on it?
makes no sense.
probably engineers with their cad programms but there are alternatives coming out on linux too, software is slowly migrating so linux version are most commonly availble, or a very good alternative
i would figure that a company who produces that many computers would be imaging each hardrive from some master or something, not hap hazzardly using a random virus filled thumb drive.
Devices with any OS can come with malware. Even iPods and picture frames have been shipped with malware pre-installed. There's nothing magic about Linux, other than its ability to suppress the geek skepticism reflex.
Why is this news? Don't we expect windows to be found on any brand new windows netbook?
"transferring that update to the new system, then running a full antivirus scan."
I guess I've been out of the Microsoft ecosystem for a long, long time... is it now common practice to run AV scans in a probably compromised environment? Or are malware authors so lazy these days that they can't even bother to write code which breaks any installed AV software?
c.
Log in or piss off.
Hmm, this manages to put my bloated Safari 4 install into a much better perspective. :-)
so I am returning mine. Why do THEY get all the good stuff?? You mean I have to go ONLINE and download this 'malware' myself?? And they get 3 out of the box!
DON'T even THINK about making me pay for shipping the return!!
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
So then. To set up a new pc, the anti-virus and definitions need to be downloaded on an existing and already secured PC.
Which presumably in turn was set up from an already secure pc, and so on and so forth...dilemma!
Odds are the first ever PC to be connected to the net had its antivirus handcoded and primed before it was connected, allowing its "secure" wonderfullness to be passed down from generation to generation..
the best thing to do is a wipe with DBAN then virgin install with a non OEM crapware filled copy of windows. or throw your favorite copy of *nix on there.
Kaspersky releases "news" article about their virus scanner saving the day, while casting doubt on all PC vendors. Solution: Buy our shit!
I don't care whether it's malware, weapons of mass destruction, or kiddie porn. It's all baseless fear-mongering to push corporate or political influence, in the end it's all just money.
What they of course fail to highlight is the fact that the solution is neither effective nor guaranteed to work. Kaspersky's scanner, like any scanner, cannot catch all malware, just like Bush couldn't (wouldn't?) catch OBL. Perhaps worse is the high rate of false positives, such as when your virus scanner mistakenly recognizes a Linux ISO as a boot sector virus, or your republican mistakenly recognizes a Linux hacker as an islamic terrorist. Bullshit all around!
-Billco, Fnarg.com
...wipe it and install a new OS. There are several available. They are quite inexpensive. In fact, they are Free.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Would you actually be able to run WoW on this netbook? I mean, 1.6ghz and 1gb ram is pushing it a bit, no?
How prevalent are viruses really? I've never had one in 16 years of Windows, at least 10 of which the PC's regularly been connected to the internet. Not even at the office, where we have about 80 machines with each one restoring data from a client at least once a week.
I've only once seen a friend/family have an infection (more on that later), though admittedly some of them wouldn't know unless it was crippling. On the other hand there was a couple of years into XP where malware, mostly the odd toolbar, was not uncommon, but I hardly see that anymore unless you count google and yahoo.
I play games, use forums, download stuff, don't take any particular precautions bar free firewall and anti-virus software. I do keep windows up to date and I don't pirate anything though, and I only used an email client (Thunderbird) for about a year, when I had a good junk filter (the only time my AV has had a positive it was in that junk folder).
I do recall I was once temporarily renting a room and I cleared out the landlady's laptop which was utterly infested (though, it turned out it was her boyfriends, he was working overseas). I'll chalk that one down to the user though since a short time later she found MSN, it logged into her boyfriend's account automatically and she was bombarded with his numerous girl and boyfriends asking if he could sneak off to the usual place at say 9 for a quickie? I told her it could be fake, generated by the viruses, but she had pretended to be him, they were clearly real people in the local area who knew him personally. We had several conversations about that but she was still too embarrassed to say what she found in the browser history. She was really something and that little episode nearly worked out very well for me, but, well it was all too likely that he had done to her what he had done to the laptop so I wasn't going to plug in my equipment.
Well, the factory clearly provides a superior level of service. Users can get the true Windows Experience right out of the box.
All signed apps would also be insecure as it only takes one app with a security bug for someone to get in.
So you'd have the restrictions of requiring signed apps (few apps, more cost, more hassle) plus
still have security problems...
2. Malware writers do indeed write code targeting AV software. But not all of them.
Tech Public Policy stuff
When purchasing a new computer, wipe the drive. This has the added bonus of getting rid of bundleware, too, and sets it up nice for Linux! Well you can install Windows if you really want to. If your computer didn't come with an original Windows install disc, download and burn one (thanks bittorrent!). Hey, you bought Windows anyway with the computer, might as well get what you paid for.
Recall Alert
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207
May 23, 2009
Alert #09-993
M&A Companion Touch
The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: "Companion Touch" notebook computer
Units: About 9,000
Distributor: M&A
Hazard: The laptop computer may have pre-installed hostile software (a "virus" or "worm") which could result in the unauthorized transmission of private user data, including bank account numbers and passwords, to a remote site.
Incidents/Injuries: None reported.
Remedy: Immediately stop using the device and return it to the point of sale for replacement. If bank account or credit card information has at any time been stored on the device, contact your bank and credit card providers to check for fraud and identity theft.
If computer security is to be taken seriously, such actions are essential.
Now, I know you are trolling, but so is our old friend kdawson ("for a change"). Really if I'm a seller of netbooks with Linuzz pre-installed, I could easily preinstall a rootkit on it as well. The only difference would be that there would not be any Kaspersky there to tell me about it.
It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
Check the signature of your Linux image before installing it on the netbook.
While in theory the current crop of netbooks is capable of running Windows XP,
Windows XP is all but optimized for this weak hardware.
Linux distributions, OTOH, do take the User Interface limitations seriously.
Plus, netbooks are not capable to do gaming. Here goes the #1 reason why people still run Windows.
Netbooks are not used, usually yet, in Enterprises. Here goes the #2 reason (legacy WinXP software).
And for the intended use "surfing, mailing, chatting, perhaps a little text processing", modern Linux distributions bring all tools on board.
If you haven't, you've handed your bank and credit card details over to the guy who did.
Deleted
I remember buying a Packard Bell computer in like 96-97. It came with lots of software bundled. First thing i did was doing an antivirus scan with the bundled antivirus software (i think it was some macafee thing-y) and it found virus on the computer - in the game fifa'97 to be exact. So i did the only right thing: installed linux.
You're PPP????
network (read:cisco) tech (ducks head).
of course I jest
To ensure that a new PC is malware-free, [Kaspersky] recommended that before users connect the machine to the Internet, they install security software, update it by retrieving the latest definition file on another computer, and transferring that update to the new system, then running a full antivirus scan.
No, what users should do is re-format and re-install.
Some malware comes pre-infected with Windows.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/11/Schedule
I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
Car and Camera analogies. cool....
If your tire goes flat on your car you don't waste any time with the fix. You do it yourself or you find someone who has the needed skills and availability. Note Availability. You can find that expertise in a lot of ways and the problem might be more along the lines of finding immediate communications than of finding the expertise.
That's not so different from the situation with the camera since, if you want to use it, you find someone to fix it.
Your computer is more like a drippy faucet. If you don't mind the ugly sounds and unappeasing smells it makes then you can just go on ignoring it. No matter the wife can't sleep due to the drip...drip...drip....drip.
It doesn't seem to me that forcing a user to install h/er OS would provide anything in terms of security consciousness. What it *could* do is provide a clean baseline that is certifiably infection-free. Useful if you need to reinstall. Critical if your "recovery media" are infected. That whole idea of a "clean baseline" would, however, contribute to security consciousness.
OEMs should be required to provide certified-infection-free products.
So should car vendors, but that's another rant ;)
I'd be way happier with the latter two. Not concerned if Windows is open source. But real virtual desktops and a package manager are critical. Virtual desktops because, as anyone who uses them knows, they are just wickedly useful.
The Package Manager is the place where most infections occur on Windows. If only MSPackageInstaller process had permissions to install programs (eg place an executable binary into Path) **and the social-engineering of UAC were replaced** then a real authentication provides credentials to install. **and fix Windows' obsolescent reliance on three file description characters** then a more transportable and peer-reviewed association to executive.
Well, this particular part of it all has been working well outside of Windows for a long time now.
I dislike Ubuntu for relying on sudo credentials. I want to change the system on Ubuntu and my own password are required. On Fedora, they still require, my *root* password is to be supplied. I prefer that so that anyone with connection access has two levels of authentication.
But still, these are critical areas that Windows 7 do not address.
Where's the news item? I bought some months ago a EUR 600 Vista laptop from Acer just to find out to my disappointment it contained 2 viruses middle of its own bloatware.
The nice was searching up the model number on the Net: it turned out to be well known that the entire model line of those Acer notebooks had those viruses spread worldwide..
It's just gross flaws in the business of certain vendors.
The chief reason monocultures are a threat is that they represent a point source of failure. A single worm or trojan targeted at a weakness on a ubiquitous piece of software can take down every system exposed to it. If only a third of the systems exposed to a threat are vulnerable, the toxicity - so to speak - of the threat is far less. It is fairly obvious that no OS presents absolute security. The first Internet worm after all ran on Unix systems. Linux also has its hazards otherwise we would not have chkrootkit installed and running periodically.
Microsoft, though, is far and away the easy target because it IS the big target out there. We who adhere to OS's with lower target cross-sections salute your bravery and also thank you for volunteering to take point.
There are other targets of opportunity for black hats though, including Apache, Java, Flash and other utilities that are potentially more widespread than Windows, since they run on multiple OSs. However, the creators of cracks for these systems still seem to expect that the underlying OS will be Windows. So again, we thank you for being the proud targets you are.
------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
There's nothing magic about Linux, other than its ability to suppress the geek skepticism reflex.
There's quite a bit of magic, actually, and it's the Linux's "app store", aka package management system. People just don't download and install software from anywhere, they install software through package managers. Software installed through package managers is configured, tested, and signed by the distribution maintainer. And those people seem to be doing a good job keeping malware off the machines.
To most people who aren't drooling idiots, paid shills, or fools that have hitched their wagon to MS, Windows *IS* malware.
Therefore, *by definition* every machine automatically has the malware "Windows" on it.