Comments on: Sony Installs Rootkits to Enforce DRM

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 19:19:54 +0000

Scotch Tape Stymies Sony Copy Protection: http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=174400748

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 09:34:16 +0000

Here’s Sony official “apology” and their announcement of a CD replacement program:

http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/

And as to your questions, John, yes, there are ways to detect if your PC has this Sony rootkit. For example, McAfee’s anti-virus product will detect and remove it:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_136855.htm

As to your second question, no, you can’t get this particular rootkit by downloading an MP3 via P2P.

Now downloading porn… that’s a different story…

j/k

Made you nervous, didn’t I?

By: DJ John

DJ John — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 23:02:38 +0000

1) Is their a utility to identify whether or not ones PC has been infected with this Sony rootkit?

2) Is it possible to be infected by downloading songs via a P2P from a computer that is infected with this rootkit or perhaps the file that originally came with the Sony infected CD?

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:26:51 +0000

Sony announced they will temporarily stop manufacturing CDs with this rootkit technology: http://www.securityfocus.com/print/brief/45 And the A/V industry is actually going to start removing the rootkit when detected: http://blogs.technet.com/antimalware/archive/2005/11/12/414299.aspx

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 19:41:58 +0000

And here's a partial list of Sony CD's with the rootkit: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004144.php

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 18:40:14 +0000

Make sure your audio CDs don't automagically install software on your computer when you insert them. Here's how to disable autoplay in Windows XP Pro: http://chris.webdevlab.com/blog/?p=63

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 22:01:26 +0000

EMI wants you to know they don't use rootkits: http://news.com.com/EMI+We+dont+use+rootkits/2100-1029_3-5937108.html?part=rss&tag=5937108&subj=news

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 18:23:56 +0000

ttp://blogs.download.com/Spyware-Hunt/post.php?p=808

Quote from Sony executive Thomas Hesse:

“Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?”

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 20:32:37 +0000

Another update on the Sony DRM madness: http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html

By: Matt Hite

Matt Hite — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 02:39:59 +0000

Apparently Sony is using this on a bunch of their CDs.

Wired on Sony’s rootkit: The Cover-Up Is the Crime

http://www.wired.com/news/rants/0,2350,69467,00.html