Removing Sony's CD 'rootkit' kills Windows (1 Viewer)

[Wavioli]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

hahaha, in your face sorny

 

[glen]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

Very disgraceful.

 

[quasiquasi]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

Nooo! Not Chris Botti and Amerie! Not, em, Switchfoot!(???!)

Seriously, though.

 

[LMD64]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

oh, and this too:

Sony's rootkit uninstaller is *really* dangerous

We've written here that the "uninstaller" that Sony provides for getting rid of the malicious trojan horse that is installed on your computer when you play one of their music CDs introduces some pretty big security holes into your PC.

But it looks like it might be worse than we suspected. DRM-fighting Princeton prof Ed Felten sends us this:

Alex Halderman and I have confirmed that Sony's Web-based XCP uninstallation utility exposes users to serious security risk. Under at least some circumstances, running Sony's Web-based uninstaller opens a huge security hole on your computer. We have a working demonstration exploit.

We are working furiously to nail down the details and will report our results here as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we recommend strongly against downloading or running Sony's Web-based XCP uninstaller.

LINK

 

[LMD64]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

a breif summary of what's going on in Sony's XCP DRM, for the reallly geeky:

http://hack.fi/~muzzy/sony-drm/

 

[pete]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

Nooo! Not Chris Botti and Amerie! Not, em, Switchfoot!(???!)

Seriously, though.

switchfoot are a christian rock band

In the forums on the Sony Music website, Tim Foreman of the band Switchfoot talks about the copy protection on their CD:

Hello friends,
my heart is heavy with this whole copy-protection thing. Many PC users have posted problems that they have had importing the new songs (regular disc only, not the dual disc) into programs such as Itunes. Let me first say that as a musician AND as a music fan, I agree with the frustration that has been expressed. We were horrified when we first heard about the new copy-protection policy that is being implemented by most major labels, including Sony (ours), and immediately looked into all of our options for removing this from our new album. Unfortunately, this is the new policy for all new major releases from these record companies. It is heartbreaking to see our blood, sweat, and tears over the past 2 years blurred by the confusion and frustration surrounding this new technology. It is also unfortunate when bands such as ourselves, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, etc… (just a few of the new releases with copy protection) are the target of this criticism, when there is no possible way to avoid this new industry policy.
​

He goes on to explain how to (relatively easily) circumvent the copy protection on their discs.

 

[piratio]

Re: a list of CDs containing Sony's XCP rootkit

http://wiki.ehow.com/Protect-Yourself-from-Sony-DRM-Rootkit-Malware

it doesn't really seem to be the subversive ware being hyped at the moment. I'm against it, obviously, but hey, it's only software... it's only a matter of days before a crack//workaround is published...

 

[Lord Damian]

http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?id=1266

go Texas.