Best Buy Sold Infected Digital Picture Frames

By GREGG KEIZER, Computerworld, IDG
Published: January 23, 2008

Best Buy Co. Inc. sold digital picture frames during the holidays that harbored malicious code able to spread to any connected Windows PC, the big box retailer has confirmed. It is not recalling the frames, however.

What Best Buy called "a limited number" of the 10.4-in. digital frames sold under its in-house Insignia brand were "contaminated with a computer virus during the manufacturing process," according to a notice posted on the Insignia site last weekend. The frame which went by the part number NS-DPF10A has been discontinued, and all remaining inventory pulled, Best Buy added.

But that didn't happen until after some of pre-infected frames were sold to customers.

Best Buy did not specify the number of virus-loaded frames that had ended up in customers' hands, but said in a second notice posted today that it is continuing to investigate and is "connecting with our customers who may have been impacted."

The malware packed with the frame is an older virus that Best Buy claimed would be easily detected by any up-to-date anti-virus software. It did not, however, specify the malware or narrow the scope of the danger by confirming that it was say, a non-replicating Trojan rather than a self-propagating worm.

Only Windows PCs are vulnerable, said Best Buy's notices, and then only if the picture frame were to be connected to the computer via the included USB cable. Frames like digital cameras are designed to connect to PCs so that images can be downloaded from the machine to the frame.

Best Buy recommended users running a current anti-virus program plug the frame into the PC so that the security software can scan the frame and delete the malware. Other customers should call a special toll-free number for help.

"We apologize for the inconvenience that has been caused as a result of this incident," said Best Buy.

Best Buy's public relations team did not respond to a call for comment.

The frame snafu is only the latest in a tradition of factory-infected hardware. Last November, Seagate Technology LLC admitted that an unknown number of its 500GB Maxtor Basics 3200 hard drives left an Asian manufacturing plant with Trojan horses designed to steal online gaming passwords. The year before that, Apple Inc. had to warn Windows users that some of its iPod music players had been infected with a factory virus.

At the time, an Apple vice president made light of the iPod incident, telling Macworld UK: "We are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it."


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_002570DE00740E18002573D9007CF01E.html?em&ex=1201323600&en=0f4358ac4c5481a2&ei=5087%0A