Panda Security Finds Malware on New HTC Magic
A Panda Security employee purchased a new HTC Magic smartphone only to discover malware residing on its SD card.
The IDG News Service reports that a Panda Security employee has discovered three malware programs on a new, out-of-the-box HTC Magic phone. The malicious programs were discovered when the employee plugged the device into a Windows-based PC.
The three malware programs consisted of a client for the Mariposa botnet (now defunct), the Conficker worm, and a password stealer for Lineage, the game. All three programs resided on the phone's SD card--the Mariposa botnet client even automatically loaded when the device was connected to the PC.
Because the HTC Magic has been on the market for a year, it's unlikely that the malware programs were installed at the factory. British wireless carrier Vodafone said that this was probably an isolated incident. "We will obviously fully investigate this and make sure that any necessary changes to our security policies are put in place," a spokesperson said.
Panda believes that the phone was purchased by someone else and was thus returned to Vodaphone already infected. More than likely the UK wireless carrier neglected to re-format the card or re-flash the phone's memory before re-boxing the device and distributing it to another customer... namely the Panda Security employee.
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That is something that retailers do on a regular basis that really cheeses me off. They'll take a return, and if the customer claims there is nothing wrong with the item, they'll promply seal it back up and place it on the shelf as if it had just come off the truck. They really should be required to put a sticker on the item indicting it was previously returned. Of course, they won't want to do that because they know they'd have a harder time selling it.
You would be shocked how much this happens, especially with electronics retailers. They know that the moment they mark it as "used" or "returned" they're going to lose their ass on the price they have to sell it for to get rid of it..... so they break out the clear tape and back to the retail shelf it goes.
Yes, it took a PC to detect a trojan...
It seems like a sneaky way to pass out viruses. I wouldn't wear underpants the first time before I wash them.
Vodaphone rep says "We will obviously fully investigate this and make sure that any necessary changes to our security policies are put in place."
Really? Why should anyone believe that for one second when they've already shown total disregard for customers and security for admittedly repackaging a return as new and unopened?
That is something that retailers do on a regular basis that really cheeses me off. They'll take a return, and if the customer claims there is nothing wrong with the item, they'll promply seal it back up and place it on the shelf as if it had just come off the truck. They really should be required to put a sticker on the item indicting it was previously returned. Of course, they won't want to do that because they know they'd have a harder time selling it.
I actually work retail as a manager. I can honestly tell you that at my location that we throughly check returned products before selling them again. If it doesn't pass my inspection, I will send it back to the manufacture for a credit. At NO TIME do we ever reseal a package and sell it as a new one. We let the customer know before it is even brought up to the register.
I'm not familiar with Vodafone and their practices. However I refuse to purchase locally from any cell phone shops because all the phones are "handled" before you, the customer, actually purchases it. I order mine directly from either the carrier or the manufacture. Costly, but my phones work from the git go and I don't have to worry about this kind of thing as mentioned here.
Tom's - I suspect you write stories around stock pictures you have on hand already. How the heck do you consistently find the most appropriate picture for each story! LOL!
Tom's - I suspect you write stories around stock pictures you have on hand already. How the heck do you consistently find the most appropriate picture for each story! LOL!
You see, while you guys go around bashing the writers at Tom's for every little grammatical error, they over-compensate by having the best pictures for their stories.
I kid.
Seriously though, this doesn't suprise me. That's why it blows my mind when companies will buy their users iPhones and other smartphones that are difficult to manage.
Although you can get around content filtering on a Blackberry BES by using a socket connection vs HTTP, you can't get around the permissions.
Of course, if you have a trojan on the SD Card, you are own your own I suppose.