Double edge mis-guided protection XCP

The software the is originally designed to protect the interest of the Sony in the music industry becomes a potential backdoor threat. The first virus based on the anti-piracy copy protection used by music publisher Sony BMG appears on the internet... The original copy protection known as "Extended Copy Protection (XCP) CD copy protection" uses rookit based technology to hide on PCs on which the music CD's are played. But with some modifications the same code used to protect the music vendor can also wreak havoc.

The first virus based on this approach is called "Stinx-E Trojan" and was discovered by Sophos PLC. This virus appears as a normal email with the subject line “Photo approval,”.

By clicking on the attachment in the e-mail this virus will bring down the computer’s firewall, giving hackers access to it (similar to a botnet). This virus leverages the same XCP software to hide in the computer....

More details here.

Rootkit in music Cd's?

Sony and BMG have introduced rootkits as a way to provide copy protection of their CDs.

Next time you play music you may get more than you expect!

Are rootkits a smart or a very risky business approach. Roots kits are normally used by hackers to break into computer at will. Rootkits are a set of concealed tools used by an intruder after cracking a computer system. The rookit conceal running processes and files or system data, which helps an intruder maintain access to a system for malicious purposes. The usage of Rootkits for copy protection is given them new prominence and fame...

If you don't know your computer is running a root kit try a free tool like Sysinternals do investigate.

Mobile Security -- no comment!

More samples here....