Sony Rootkit Version 2
Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:24 am
http://hiltont.blogspot.com/2007/08/son ... ion-2.html
Scroll forward to August 2007 - not even 2 years after Sony's initial rootkit blunder. Sony has released a range of "Microvault" USB 2.0 sticks with fingerprint security. So what did they decide to do when they wrote the driver for this fingerprint security functionality? That's right - they decided to employ a rootkit to protect it.
Now, I mean, who at Sony needs to get fired for this decision?
The important thing to know about rootkits, for those unfamiliar with them, is that they are used to hide programs and complete directories from the operating system and quite often results in a directory that some AntiVirus software doesn't even know exists and therefore cannot scan. Yup, that's right - the Sony Microvault drivers create a folder on your hard drive - inside the C:\Windows folder - that can be used by all forms of malware to hide from detection.