Sony Memory Stick software installing a rootkit

[johnastovall]

Researchers say Sony software makes PCs vulnerable

Articles / Security
Posted by l33tdawg on Aug 29, 2007 - 09:02 AM

________________________________

Software included with high-end memory sticks sold by Sony Corp can make
personal computers vulnerable to attack by computer hackers, according
to researchers with two Internet security firms.

Sony's MicroVault USB memory stick and fingerprint reader includes
software that creates a hidden directory on the computer's hard drive,
researchers with Finnish security software maker F-Secure Corp reported
on the company's blog on Monday.

Such software that hides itself, which is known as a root kit, leaves
room for hackers to secretly infect personal computers, they said.

Software that is installed on such hidden drives is not only invisible
to the human eye; some types of computer security software are unable to
detect viruses and other types of so-called malware, or malicious
software, stored on them.

________________________________

This article is from Hack In The Box
http://www.hackinthebox.org/

The URL for this story is:

http://www.hackinthebox.org/modules....ws&file=articl
e&sid=24278

[ngoduyviet]

It appears that Sony does not learn after their last rootkit fiasco. This is why I have yet to touch a Sony product in years.

[jon_k]

Holy crap. They're doing root kits again? What a dirty company. I hope they go bankrupt.

Maybe somebody will sue them for 100+ million in damages by this new rootkit and win.

It's sad Sony bought Minolta and essentially killed the brand too.

[Cope]

Originally Posted by jon_k

It's sad Sony bought Minolta and essentially killed the brand too.

Minolta killed themselves by stealing someone else's AF technology. Sony bought the camera end of KM and has kept hope alive for fans of the A mount system.

[jon_k]

Originally Posted by Cope

Minolta killed themselves by stealing someone else's AF technology. Sony bought the camera end of KM and has kept hope alive for fans of the A mount system.

Don't want to hijack the thread, but can you provide more details?

Quote from wikipedia

1991: Minolta's innovative autofocus design was found to infringe on the patents of Honeywell, a U.S. corporation. After protracted litigation, Minolta in 1991 was ordered to pay Honeywell damages, penalties, trial costs and other expenses in a final amount of 127.6 million dollars (source: NY Times).

Did Minolta willingly infringe on this patent? I mean what would Honeywell be doing with AF technology for a camera? They were never in that market. (They were in the mainframe market once, now days I see small beat-the-summer-heat fans with their name on the front. I don't think they've ever done cameras or optics though)

I'm just wondering if Honeywell patented some sort of AF technology and took advantage when Minolta happened to develop (on their own accord) a similar technology.

Kind of like Microsoft has patented an "on screen pause button." yeah, I can see how another software vendor might think of putting a pause button in their software and kind of unknowingly fall in to a patent infringement case. Maybe minolta fell out due to ignorance of the current patents going on.

If anyone has some history it'd be just nice to know.