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SONY's rootkit.. pls read!

11/13/2005 7:57 PM
SpeedRacer	SONY's rootkit.. pls read! You may or may not have heard about SONY corp putting a rootkit onto some of their newer CD's. All you need to do is play it on your PC and it will get installed without your knowledge or consent. CA (and soon NY) are putting together class action lawsuits, the first evidence of hackers using the SONY rootkit have already been found in the wild. It is a big mess. Here are some of the titles affected: The following CDs have been known to contain this malicious program. Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia) Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic) Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia) Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia) Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia) Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia) Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia) The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia) Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia) Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic) Amerie, Touch (Columbia) Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic) Horace Silver Quintet, Silver's Blue (Epic Legacy) Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy) Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy) The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia) The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic) Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy) Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic) Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia) (labeled as XCP, but, oddly, our disc had no protection) This is only a partial list. You can tell if the CD contains this software by looking at the back of the CD, on the bottom or right side, there will be a "Compatible with" disclosure box. Along with compatibility information, the box also includes a URL where you can get help. The URL has a telltale admission buried in it: cp.sonybmg.com/xcp. The CD will only be playable via the media player it ships with and you'd only be allowed to burn 3 copies. If you've already played this on your PC, you're infected. SONY now claims it is going to stop this practice and have stopped mfr of CD's with this scheme, but please please please be 100% sure the CD you play on your PC is not one of the affected ones. There is no fool proof way to know your PC has had a rootkit fully removed. The only thing you can do if you want to be 100% sure is to wipe the hard disk and reinstall everything. - A major drag. rootkit - a piece of software which hides itself in the operating system so that it cannot be detected using normal tools nor can it be removed with any assurances. The term stems from the unix world where the admin user "root" has ultimate power on a system.. a rootkit is a program which typically gives a hacker the powers of root on some remote host and is well hidden. If you want to learn more about them, here are a couple good links: first relating to the SONY one: http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html and about rootkits in general: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Hidden_Backdoors_Trojan_Horses_and_Rootkit_Tools_in_a_Windows_Environment.html please be careful out there!! Educate & protect yourself. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. If you want to send these idiots a message, I am probably not the first (or last!) but I am personally boycotting all SONY products at least through the holidays and probably longer, but it will depend on if and how they alter their behavior. I would encourage anyone and everyone to not send these criminals a single Fucking penny. This kind of behavior must not be tolerated. - Joe Pampel

11/13/2005 7:57 PM

SpeedRacer

SONY's rootkit.. pls read!

You may or may not have heard about SONY corp putting a rootkit onto some of their newer CD's. All you need to do is play it on your PC and it will get installed without your knowledge or consent. CA (and soon NY) are putting together class action lawsuits, the first evidence of hackers using the SONY rootkit have already been found in the wild. It is a big mess.

Here are some of the titles affected:
The following CDs have been known to contain this malicious program.

Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia)
Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic)
Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia)
Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia)
Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia)
Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia)
Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia)
The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia)
Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia)
Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic)
Amerie, Touch (Columbia)
Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic)
Horace Silver Quintet, Silver's Blue (Epic Legacy)
Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy)
Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy)
The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia)
The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic)
Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)
Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia) (labeled as XCP, but, oddly, our disc had no protection)

This is only a partial list. You can tell if the CD contains this software by looking at the back of the CD, on the bottom or right side, there will be a "Compatible with" disclosure box. Along with compatibility information, the box also includes a URL where you can get help. The URL has a telltale admission buried in it: cp.sonybmg.com/xcp. The CD will only be playable via the media player it ships with and you'd only be allowed to burn 3 copies. If you've already played this on your PC, you're infected.

SONY now claims it is going to stop this practice and have stopped mfr of CD's with this scheme, but please please please be 100% sure the CD you play on your PC is *not* one of the affected ones. There is *no* fool proof way to know your PC has had a rootkit fully removed. The only thing you can do if you want to be 100% sure is to wipe the hard disk and reinstall everything. - A major drag.

*rootkit - a piece of software which hides itself in the operating system so that it cannot be detected using normal tools nor can it be removed with any assurances. The term stems from the unix world where the admin user "root" has ultimate power on a system.. a rootkit is a program which typically gives a hacker the powers of root on some remote host and is well hidden. If you want to learn more about them, here are a couple good links: first relating to the SONY one:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html

and about rootkits in general:
http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Hidden_Backdoors_Trojan_Horses_and_Rootkit_Tools_in_a_Windows_Environment.html

please be careful out there!! Educate & protect yourself. Encourage your friends and family to do the same.

If you want to send these idiots a message, I am probably not the first (or last!) but I am personally boycotting all SONY products at least through the holidays and probably longer, but it will depend on if and how they alter their behavior.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to not send these criminals a single F*ucking penny. This kind of behavior must not be tolerated.

- Joe Pampel

Replies:

Steve A. Speed: &... -- 11/14/2005 9:16 AM
Concerned Citizen Someone else is finally getting the... -- 12/8/2005 2:27 PM
Steve A. Here's a list of titles... -- 12/30/2005 12:11 PM