Virus Information News

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Fergie's Tech Blog: Sony DRM CDs infect Macs, too

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

Simon sez, "On Macintouch today, Darren Dittrich reports that Sony's DRM software targets Macs too. Digging into the "enhanced" content on the disk, he found a Start.app that, when run, shows a license agreement, then asks you for an admin password. On en

Note that these aren't the rootkits that infect Windows PCs -- Sony's Mac crippleware comes from a different vendor called Suncomm.

EFF: Want to particpate in Sony lawsuit?

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

If you satisfy the following criteria, we would like to hear from you:* You have a Windows computer; * First 4 Internet's "xcp" copy protection has been installed on your computer from a Sony CD (for more details, see our blog post referenced above or

We have not made any final decisions about filing any legal action, but we would like to hear from music fans who have been harmed by the Sony-BMG "rootkit" copy protection technology.

California Sues Sony over DRM Rootkit

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

Record company Sony BMG Music Entertainment has been targeted in a class-action lawsuit in California by consumers claiming their computers have been harmed by anti-piracy software on some Sony BMG CDs.

The claim states that Sony BMG's failed to disclose the true nature of the digital rights management system it uses on its CDs and thousands of computer users have unknowingly infected their computers, according to court documents.

Sophos develops Sony DRM removal tool

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

UK security firm Sophos plans to release a tool which will detect the existence of Sony's DRM copy-protection rootkit on Windows computers, disable it, and prevent it from re-installing.

The move follows the discovery of the first malware (a Trojan called Breplibot) that takes advantage of Sony-BMG's use of rootkit technology in DRM software bundled with its music CDs to mask its presence on infected systems.

Hackers use Sony DRM software to hide Trojan

fergdawg.blogspot.com

by Paul Ferguson

November 10, 2005

A computer security firm said on Thursday it had discovered the first virus that uses music publisher Sony BMG's controversial CD copy-protection software to hide on PCs and wreak havoc.

When recipients click on an attachment, they install malware, which may tear down the firewall and gives hackers access to a PC. The malware hides by using Sony software that is also hidden -- the software would have been installed on a computer when consumers played Sony's copy-protected music CDs.

Sony to stop making "rootkit" CDs

securityfocus.com

by SecurityFocus

November 11, 2005

Beleaguered Sony BMG will temporarily suspend the manufacture of CDs protected with technology from First 4 Internet and re-examine its copy-protection strategy, the media giant said on Friday.

The company has been widely criticized by consumers, security experts and digital-rights advocates for the surreptitious copy-protection programs that Sony BMG CDs install on consumers' computers. Digital-rights advocates and consumer attorneys are preparing nearly a half dozen legal actions against the music giant. While the company is re-evaluating its inclusion of the Extended Copy Protection (XCP) technology produced by U.K.-based First 4 Internet, the company stood by its right to protect its music.

Breplibot Stinx

f-secure.com

by F-Secure

November 11, 2005

There are variants of Breplibot (aka Stinx aka Ryknos) trying to hide under the cloak provided by the Sony DRM software. However, none of the variants we have so far analyzed are successful in installing on a machine that has an unpatched Sony DRM running

We wouldn't like to say "we told you so" but unfortunately this is one of those times you just have to do it. We have just analyzed the first malware (Breplibot.b) that is trying to hide on machines that have Sony DRM software installed. Luckily, the bot has a design flaw. If the Sony DRM rootkit is active (hiding) in the system during infection, the bot will not run at all. Moreover, the bot cannot survive a reboot because of a programming error. In any case, this is a very good example of why software should not use rootkit hiding techniques.

Sony BMG Rootkit Lawsuits

sonysuit.com

by Mark Lyon

November 20, 2005

Mark Russinovich analyzed the behavior of the software contained on some Sony music CDs in his blog entry of October 31, 2005 . His posting pointed out that the poor programming practices at First 4 Internet, the company responsible for the creation of th

Class Action Suits, Small Claims Court cases and other information linked from this site.

Cybercrime now bigger than the drug trade

The Sydney Morning Herald

by Reuters

November 29, 2005

Global cybercrime generated a higher turnover than drug trafficking in 2004 and is set to grow even further with the wider use of technology in developing countries, a top expert said on Monday.

No country is immune from cybercrime, which includes corporate espionage, child pornography, stock manipulation, extortion and piracy, said Valerie McNiven, who advises the US Treasury on cybercrime. "Last year was the first year that proceeds from cybercrime were greater than proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs, and that was, I believe, over $US105 billion [$A143 billion]," McNiven told Reuters.

Trend Micro: RSS Is Worm Bot's Next Target

eweek.com

by Ryan Naraine

November 29, 2005

An anti-virus research engineer warns that the growth of RSS and the coming Internet Explorer 7 browser refresh will provide a lucrative target for bot worm attacks.

Security researchers at Trend Micro Inc. have pinpointed RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology as a lucrative target for future bot worm attacks. David Sancho, senior anti-virus research engineer at Trend Micro, warned that RSS feed hijacking will become commonplace when Microsoft Corp. ships Internet Explorer 7, a browser refresh that will feature built-in RSS support. In a white paper titled "The Future of Bot Worms," Sancho said the IE7 release "will open some interesting possibilities to worm creators."

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