Beware: Half of Pirated Vista Is Malware
About half of all downloads that claim to be free versions of Microsoft's Vista operating system are actually malicious Trojan horse software, security vendor DriveSentry warned today.
With Vista's consumer launch just days away, hackers have been bombarding discussion boards with offers of "cracked" versions of Windows Vista, which are typically being distributed on peer-to-peer networks, said John Lynch, vice president of sales and marketing for DriveSentry.
These posts offer downloads of the operating system that skip Vista's activation process, created by Microsoft to prevent users from running illegal copies.
Nasty Problems
Users who fall for the scam can end up with some pretty nasty problems, according to Lynch. DriveSentry researchers have found malicious key-logging software and spyware on about half of the downloads it has examined recently, he said.
Pirated versions of Vista have been in circulation for several months now, and one Vista "crack," called "Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06," has already been identified as a Trojan. Trojan horses are malicious programs that present themselves as harmless or useful software.
DriveSentry has also seen criminals disguise Trojans as free versions of Windows XP in the past, Lynch said.
It's an effective technique, he added. "Someone that's stealing the software to begin with is not going to raise a fuss if the software turns out to be malicious."
Thanks to Bob McMillan of IDG News Service for the info.
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And how have these companies "discovered" these shocking developments? They've used antispyware and antivirus programs. Almost every hacker I know also makes use of multiple versions of these programs. Tell us something new. Tell us how corporate sponsored rootkits, MS validation schemes and onerous DRM code is compromising basic user capabilities.
You're regurgitating marginally relevant, corporate-sponsored spume. At least be thorough when you jump, eh?
crescentdave,
Your post speaks volumes about why the corporations do just what you don't like about them.
I never knew I had so much power- that my very mentioning of over the counter antispyware and antivirusware provoked corporations into developing rootkits, ala sony, draconian validation/activation schemes that have ONLY changed in the final days before Vista release due to overwhelming negative response and the idiocy of my not being able to whatever I damn will want with MY PURCHASED MUSIC (through iTunes and Napster).
If you're gonna be a tool, be a well-informed tool. If you're gonna kvetch, get your facts straight. If you're going to defend a point of view, figure out what the POV you're defending might be.
Unless, of course, you think it was horrible when cassette decks were invented. Corporatism: where technology goes forward and customer rights go backwards.
That, of course, was the point of my post. PC World, I said, if you're going to bring this corporate supported fear mongering up, give at least as much time to the consumer-like unpatched holes in XP & Office
very good commenting gentlemen, thank you