This photo slide scanner costs €60... The bundled malware? That's free
Pre-pwned device on sale riddled with worms
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German firm Tchibo has admitted to selling a photographic slide scanner that came pre-packaged with malware.
The €60 (£48) 35mm slide scanner, sold by retail outlets and through Tchibo's online store, and manufactured by electronics accessory maker Hama, was infected with the infamous Conficker worm.
In an advisory to customers, Tchibo offered affected customers refunds while pointing out that the device can be safely used after the virus has been removed with a modern antivirus application.
Conficker-B is present on the DCIM.exe and autorun.inf files of infected devices, Heise Security reports. Two years ago, Microsoft disabled the Autorun feature that served as worm bait during the original Conficker outbreak of 2009, so running the executable is the most likely means of infection.
Cases where consumer electronic devices are sold pre-infected with malware are far from infrequent. Normally the problem stems from an infected computer passing on the pox during the manufacturing or testing process. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Strewth,
"It's a scanner for photo slides - they're so last century"
Indeed they are and I wouldn't be parted from the freedom my Canon 550D gives me. However if you've never seen a quality slide esp. 2.25" square blown up to 4m * 4m they you haven't seen a photographic image.
Re: Strewth,
That will be that new 36Mpixel video projector will it?
Re: Strewth,
Indeed, my sister used to use slide film a great deal. Some of her photos, especially the black & white ones were stunning. Then again, it helps if you're capable of taking a decent photo in the first place! The best photos I've ever taken have been purely by chance.
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