Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Malware Found On Brand-New Windows Netbook

Posted by kdawson on from the be-careful-out-there dept.

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."

2 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. They really hand-install drivers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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?

  2. Re:Right..... by JSG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Mr haireyfeet - thank you for reminding me why I have been reading /. for the last GKHL.

    That is a beautifully pitched diatribe with a good measure of sarcasm and humour, mixed in with a few typographical conventions that I don't really understand but could make an educated guess at.

    However, there are an awfull lot of Linux (and *BSD et al) systems that are being put in the hands of Tuxvelma. You see, like it as not we Linux admins are not the only folk who access these things or even (shock, horror) actually own them.

    My wife is not exactly the most technologically sharp person but she insists (after a bit of a demo) on FF for her browser.

    Also, after Vista went a bit wonky on her identical to mine laptop, she asked me to put whatever I was running on it. So (1 year) now (5 months) we (20 days) have another Gentoo user - belting!

    Incidentaly I'm an MCSE as well (crap). Oh and an NCP and an LCP and a complete and utter nerd. I'm also an MD. Nerd or MD - I'm not sure which I prefer most.