Submitted by Virus writers are exploiting Sony’s controversial anti-piracy software to hide their malicious creations. In late October Sony was found to be using stealth techniques to hide software that stopped some of its CDs being illegally copied. Now three virus variants have been found that use the Sony software to evade detection by anti-virus programs. The rootkit is also installed on Mac OS X systems.
Viruses Use Sony Anti-Piracy CDs
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Eugenia Loli
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It’s inportant to know that the MacOS X rootkit requires user auth. Viruses stoped dead in their tracks for most users.
So does Windows if you run non-admin. So what?
Problem was that typical user just wants to listen music, and he (just) installs software.
It is well known, that most of the people
– don’t read license
– click agree without thinking. The (Next, next…) step just annoys them, nothing else.
– click next on anything that pops up
Once rootkit is installed, no user auth will help you. And Mac has even bigger problem here than Windows. peeople on Windows don’t feel secure and at least think a bit (but that would be a tiny, tiny bit) more.
>>So does Windows if you run non-admin. So what?
Yea but the problem with running non-admin in Windows is it prevents you from actually doing anything except use your word processor. Between a/v programs constantly telling you to switch to admin so it can install latest update, the many many “XP” programs that STILL won’t work in non-admin mode its a pain the arse to run non-admin if not impossible.
This is of course because MSFT crippled XP Home so badly. There never should have been a “Pro” vs. “Home” but as usual there they were telling us the way things should be.
On another note the one to blame about this whole crap Sony pulled is our Congressmen (or in this case WOMEN!) Back during the Napster trial I wrote my Congresswomen in Washington State that this kind of crap is what would happen because the Napster trial was really about the industry trying to keep any other business model for music being created that they didn’t come up with. Her answer? – I actually got a letter back from her basically saying “tough titty said the kitty” and that she sides with the industry. Even though I didn’t say to side with Napster I said this is really about shutting out any new system. The party affiliation of the congresswomen?
—-drum roll please——
Not a male, white, rich Republican! But a white rich woman DEMOCRAT! So stick that in your pipe and smoke it people that are so deluded into thinking democrats are for the comman man and all that BS.
Edited 2005-11-13 08:09
news.com is reporting that sony just halted the production of the rootkit cds. Not that this has much of an effect on the current virus situation.
quote”much of an effect on the current virus situation”
No not realy
virus could run in memory intill rootkit was installed
this could be downloaded by BTS background transfer service halting any updates in the mean time.
EDIT
The only way is to publicly publish how to remove and microsoft release a tool to rid the evil.
I might have to go read australias cyber crime act
END EDIT
Edited 2005-11-12 00:31
When will Sony’s CEO be going to prison for illegal installation of software and intrusion into users pc’s by installing software without explicit user permission. I.E., they’re basically shipping a virus, admitting to it, and no one is calling it the crime it is.
When a kid writes a virus that goes over disks he goes to jail. When a CEO has one written to go over discs, he gets hailed as a DRM champion of IP rights.
Yeah, users should class-action their asses.
The level of creativity of music industry when it comes to preventing users from sharing music is only comparable to the level of crappiness of the music they release. God forbid someone should make a free copy of songs by such talents as ashley simpson, or better yet, paris hilton.
Is thank heaven for allofmp3.com
Can someone post something to more information on this effecting Mac OS. I hadn’t of this till just now. I thought this was only effecting windows boxes. I know Sony has those dumb dual disk, also I have some that mention their copy protection, but itunes has just ignored it.
you have to klick on a installer program and log in to root for it to install
The rootkit is NOT the DRM used on OSX, it’s different.
See:
http://www.macintouch.com/#tip.2005.11.10.sony
I think sony should be taken to court for this. This rootkit has dashed any future purchases are sony products.
I did not know what rootkits were until this incident started. Fortunatly I not got any products from sony installed.
My lasted encounter with sony’s software was sonicstage 1.x actrac converter that came with the NE1 cd walkman. It was the worst program I have every used.
As a big company sony need to focus on good products with good software to go with it. If they want the apply DRM then it should be more like itunes. If you remove itunes you can not play the music but it is gone.
A few questions…
Is the Windows rootkit using reg keys to hide it self ?
Are other Oses effected ?
Edited 2005-11-11 23:06
At last count six class-action lawsuits have been started against the company.
Good! Hopefully, more to follow. Sony has been asking for this for a long time now.
This needs to go beyond lawsuits. Muthaf–kas need to hang for this shit.
Metaphorically speaking, of course.
http://www.osnews.com/permalink.php?news_id=12527&comment_id=56125
To be called CDs, products must be compliant with the ISO standard. Any disk being sold as a CD, without compliance, is breaking laws. Fraud springs to mind. UK Sale of Goods Act has a section stating that the product must be “As described”. The description of “CD” is not a vague ‘circular, small product” but a published ISO standard.
How do these copy-protected disks comply with the ISO standard?
Are they being marketed/sold/described as CDs by the publisher?
Copy-protected audio CDs don’t have the CD Digital Audio logo.