Some High-Tech Devices Are Showing Up With an Unwanted Extra: a Virus

By JORDAN ROBERTSON

By Jordan Robertson

The Associated Press

From iPods to navigation systems, some of today’s hottest gadgets are landing on store shelves with some unwanted extras from the factory – pre-installed viruses that steal passwords, open doors for hackers and make computers spew spam.

Computer users have been warned for years about virus threats from downloading Internet porn and opening suspicious e-mail attachments. Now they run the risk of picking up a digital infection just by plugging a new gizmo into their home computers.

Recent cases reviewed by The Associated Press include some of the most widely used tech devices: Apple iPods, digital picture frames sold by Target and Best Buy stores, and TomTom navigation gear.

In most cases, Chinese factories – where many companies have turned to keep prices low – are the source.

So far, the virus problem appears to come from lax quality control – perhaps a careless worker plugging an infected music player into a factory computer used for testing – rather than organized sabotage by hackers or the Chinese factories.

It’s the digital equivalent of the recent series of tainted products traced to China, including toxic toothpaste, poisonous pet food and toy trains coated in lead paint.

But sloppiness is the simplest explanation, not the only one.

If a virus is introduced at an earlier stage of production, by a corrupt employee or a hacker when software is uploaded to the gadget, then the problems could be far more serious and widespread.

Knowing how many devices have been sold, or tracking the viruses with any precision, is impossible because of the secrecy kept by electronics makers and the companies they hire to build their products.

But given the nature of mass manufacturing, the numbers could be huge.

“It’s like the old cockroach thing – you flip the lights on in the kitchen and they run away,” said Marcus Sachs, a former White House cybersecurity official who now runs the security research group SANS Internet Storm Center. “You think you’ve got just one cockroach? There’s probably thousands more of those little boogers that you can’t see.”

Jerry Askew, a Los Angeles computer consultant, bought a new Uniek digital picture frame to surprise his 81-year-old mother for her birthday. But when he added family photos, it tried to unload a few surprises of its own.

When he plugged the frame into his Windows PC, his antivirus program alerted him to a threat. The $50 frame, built in China and bought at Target, was infested with four viruses, including one that steals passwords.

“You expect quality control coming out of the manufacturers,” said Askew, 42. “You don’t expect that sort of thing to be on there.”

Security experts say the malicious software is apparently being loaded at the final stage of production, when gadgets are pulled from the assembly line and plugged in to a computer to make sure everything works.

If the testing computer is infected – say, by a worker who used it to charge his own infected iPod – the digital germ can spread to anything else that gets plugged in.

The recent infections may be accidental, but security experts say they point out an avenue of attack that could be exploited by hackers.

“We’ll probably see a steady increase over time,” said Zulfikar Ramzan, a computer security researcher at Symantec Corp. “The hackers are still in a bit of a testing period – they’re trying to figure out if it’s really worth it.”

Thousands of people whose antivirus software isn’t up to date may have been infected by new products without even knowing it, experts warn.

And even protective software may not be enough.

In one case, digital frames sold at Sam’s Club contained a previously unknown bug that not only steals online gaming passwords but disables antivirus software, according to security researchers at Computer Associates.

“It’s like if you pick up a gun you’ve never seen before – before you pull the trigger you’d probably check the chamber,” said Joe Telafici, vice president of operations of McAfee Avert Labs, the security software maker’s threat-research arm.

“It’s an extreme analogy, but it’s the right idea. It’s best to spend the extra 30 seconds to be sure than be wrong,” he added.

Monitoring suppliers in China and elsewhere is expensive, and cuts into the savings of outsourcing. But it’s what U.S. companies must do to prevent poisoning on the assembly line, said Yossi Sheffi, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology specializing in supply chain management.

stores

Infected tech devices have come from such stores as Target, Best Buy and Sam’s Club. what happened?

Consumers have reported receiving new devices, such as digital picture frames, iPods and GPS systems, infected with viruses.

In most cases, China has been the source of the tech items. how did it happen?

In the factory, a sampling of devices is selected for testing.

Test PCs can contract viruses through unauthorized use by workers and pass them on to the new devices. how can I prevent it?

Keep your antivirus software up to date, although that may not be enough to help. Digital frames sold at Sam’s Club contained a virus that disabled antivirus software.

Monitoring suppliers is expensive and difficult. Cross your fingers that your antiv irus software will do its job.

(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.