Our Good Friends in China
Chinese Computer Products Have Identity Theft Malware
March 14, 2008
In the ongoing saga of defective Chinese-made products hitting U.S. store shelves, digital picture frames sold at Best Buy and Target stores, Apple iPods and TomTom GPS navigation software have all been found to contain a variety of unwelcome “bonuses” - identity theft programs which steal passwords; viruses which can spew forth spam to everyone in your computer address book; and Trojan programs which open back doors on your system for hackers ...
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Cheap electronics come at a price. That price might turn out to be VERY expensive. Before you ever plug electronic storage media into your computer, make sure you update your spyware detector and antivirus programs. Storage media include items such as a USB thumb drives, digital picture frames, cheap digital cameras, MP3 player, and so on. Basically, anything that stores data in any format and can transfer it to your computer. Even a video DVD or music CDs sometimes have software on them that gets loaded and run when you stick them into your computer - watch out there, too. Cheap electronics from China have a tendency to be infected. It pays to be paranoid. Don't look to suing the store you bought it from, either - you should read that draconian EULA you just agreed to. They are free and clear.
I don't really have these virus issues since I am a Linux user. I will admit to having ONE computer running Microsoft XP. It is fully patched and is immune to any sort of virus or malware - it is turned off.
March 14, 2008
In the ongoing saga of defective Chinese-made products hitting U.S. store shelves, digital picture frames sold at Best Buy and Target stores, Apple iPods and TomTom GPS navigation software have all been found to contain a variety of unwelcome “bonuses” - identity theft programs which steal passwords; viruses which can spew forth spam to everyone in your computer address book; and Trojan programs which open back doors on your system for hackers ...
---
Cheap electronics come at a price. That price might turn out to be VERY expensive. Before you ever plug electronic storage media into your computer, make sure you update your spyware detector and antivirus programs. Storage media include items such as a USB thumb drives, digital picture frames, cheap digital cameras, MP3 player, and so on. Basically, anything that stores data in any format and can transfer it to your computer. Even a video DVD or music CDs sometimes have software on them that gets loaded and run when you stick them into your computer - watch out there, too. Cheap electronics from China have a tendency to be infected. It pays to be paranoid. Don't look to suing the store you bought it from, either - you should read that draconian EULA you just agreed to. They are free and clear.
I don't really have these virus issues since I am a Linux user. I will admit to having ONE computer running Microsoft XP. It is fully patched and is immune to any sort of virus or malware - it is turned off.