Security & Privacy

In the old days, people worried about getting viruses from floppy disks. (Remember those?) Then, when the Internet started becoming popular, that became the leading vector for viruses, Trojan horses and other malware: if you download infected files or applications, you can get stung. But now there’s another vector for malware to worry about: gadgets.

We all have more and more electronic gadgets, and an increasing number of these devices connect to our computers. Our mobile phones, digital cameras, DVRs, digital picture frames, and much more, all transfer content to and from our computers. But did you know that, when you unbox these devices and connect them to your computer for the first time, they may be dangerous?

CNN reports that an increasing number of gadgets contain malware. One device – a digital picture frame purchased by a computer consultant for his elderly mother – contained four viruses, including one that steals passwords. Another contained malware that could even disable antivirus software.

How do these viruses got on these devices? “Security experts say the malicious software is apparently being loaded at the final stage of production, when gadgets are pulled from the assembly line and plugged in to a computer to make sure everything works. If the testing computer is infected – say, by a worker who used it to charge his own infected iPod – the digital germ can spread to anything else that gets plugged in.”

Most of these devices – like pretty much all the electronics we use – come from China, where quality control has been seen, in recent months, to be severely lacking. Even Apple got hit in late 2006: a number of iPods contained a Windows virus, and infected users’ computers. Apple claims that “we have seen less (sic) than 25 reports concerning this problem”, but we personally know one Mac user who got an infected iPod. Sure, this could be a one-in-a-million incident, but reports on blogs and forums suggest otherwise.

To be fair, no iPods have been seen to contain malware since that incident; Apple has certainly made sure that its suppliers don’t get caught again. But who knows about tomorrow? Naturally, we recommend that you use Intego VirusBarrier to protect yourself from viruses, and make sure your devices are safe. Because without solid antivirus protection, you run the risk of catching something from unexpected places.