Sony DRM system using rootkit technology

[MozartMan]

What the f##########k is wrong with Sony?

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/#00000691

[TBoneit]

I think I heard the bang of Sony shooting themselves in the foot again clear over hear in NJ.

I like their hardware, 400 disc DVD player and my original DVD Burner 500A it always worked until I wanted faster burning, but Sony's movies are not impressing me.

Just looked a Acid Pro 5 install... Didin't work, Something called BFS Xpress got installed but when starting Acid BFS pops up and say's invalid S/N and Acid won't run. I'm wondering if it is because when I replaced the XP on that computer I used SP2 and updates.

Ended up telling customer to call Sony support. It ran before but that was XP no SP's and he ended up with tons of spyware.

Sony what are you thinking? Tunnel vision? So focused on protecting your IP you don't care about the customer?

Cheers

[ROF]

I could be wrong but don't most root kits tie into hardware configs? If so, what happens when you have a Sony Root Kit and say a Warner Root Kit installed one over the other? Won't these two conflict and cause the hardware to either function erratically or not at all?

I'm all for protection of IP but this is not the way to do it.

[CaptainVideo]

But this is all moot. If you have autorun disabled the rootkit cannot install or prevent you from ripping the tracks. It just opens SonyBMG up to lawsuits for making users computers insecure.

[laspis59]

If you have autorun disabled the rootkit cannot install or prevent you from ripping the tracks. It just opens SonyBMG up to lawsuits for making users computers insecure.

Sorry I've forgotten.How do you prevent autorun?
Is it Ctrl+Shift?

[MozartMan]

Edit: moved link to original post.

[shelbyGT]

I heard about this... boooo Sony!

[somebodeez]

Well, if this is true than Sony is no longer a trusted name in my book. (That goes for any product of theirs.) And I've written to them to tell them just that.

[ROF]

@somebodeez

You better keep a copy of that letter because I'll bet this won't be last company and probably isn't the first distributor to do this.

[somebodeez]

Maybe - maybe not.
At this time, who knows?
Personally, I'm getting sick & tired of this nonesense & I bet I'm not the only one.

[ROF]

Audio CDs are currently a waste of money in the US. When Movies which have 2 hours plus of audio and video for the same price as 10-15 audio tracks I consider that a waste of money. Most CDs only have one or two songs worth listening to anyways. iTunes is more affordable and economical.

[somebodeez]

Audio CDs are currently a waste of money in the US.
... iTunes is more affordable and economical.

Agreed about CDs.

I don't do iTunes/iPod - whatever.
It's too confusing to try to keep track of all this stuff - what's DRM'd, what's not. What will play on what and what won't ect.
http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/guide/
No thanks.

I guess all I can do is wait for the dust to settle and depending on which way it settles, then make my personal choices.
And in the mean time, keep anything Sony branded away from my PC.

[Neroon]

I don't know about the U.S., but as far as Germany, Sweden and other European nations are concerned Sony committed a criminal offense.
Why?
Because getting rid of it is technically illegal since it counts as circumumventing a copy - protection mechanism. And since you have to get rid of it to remove what is essientially a Trojan from your computer Sony is effectively forcing people to commits a crime, which is a criminal offense.
And no i did not make this up i just read about it in 2 different German newspapers.

Final Comment: Good news for Samsumg. They "stole" a lot of tradtional Sony businesses already and now they can move into CDs as well it seems.

[somebodeez]

Sony to patch copy-protected CD
http://news.com.com/Sony+to+patch+copy-protected+CD/2100-7355_3-5928608.html?part=rss&...8608&subj=news

Sony BMG's technology partner First 4 Internet, a British company, said Wednesday that it has released a patch to antivirus companies that will eliminate the copy-protection software's ability to hide.

In both cases, the antipiracy software itself will not be removed, only exposed to view.

Consumers who want to remove the copy-protection software altogether from their machine can contact the company's customer support service for instructions, a Sony BMG representative said.
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/form8.html

[somebodeez]

AnyDVD tackles Sony DRM Rootkit Virus


http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12624

Since March 2005, Sony BMG is using a rootkit-based DRM system on some newer audio CDs. This DRM system is a serious hazard to each Windows based PC. Well known websites like F-Secure.com and SysInternals.com are confirming this exposure.

If AnyDVD is installed and active on a PC, this new so-called "Sony DRM Rootkit Virus" has no access to the operating system and the affected audio CD appears unprotected regardless!

[somebodeez]

Here's a list of infected CDS:
http://slashdot.org/~xtracto/journal/121088

[dvdguy4]

Just another reason why I dont buy any cds now. Then again I havent bought any cds since my last day of being a DJ and that was in 1999.
After that I gave all my music away to my family. Surprised thats not illegal yet,"Given your cds away".

[e404pnf]

Sorry I've forgotten.How do you prevent autorun?
Is it Ctrl+Shift?

Just hold down Shift when you insert the disk

[ROF]

Something to note. This rootkit allows others to add virus files with the files names starting with $sys$. if you notice these suspicious files beginning to appear on your system or your anti-virus / anti-spyware system begins detecting them you may have been opened to computer virus and backdoor attacks by listening to Sony CD artists.

I sense a class action lawsuit coming.

[painkiller]

Actually, the simple notion of installing software on your computer (by someone else) is a serious issue.

No matter it's intent.

This was why Intuit had damaged its reputation with its many (now fewer) customers. (And sent me to one of its competitors.)

Perhaps it is time we consider moving away from Windows to Linux/Unix.

[ROF]

Perhaps it is time we consider moving away from Windows to Linux/Unix.

or pull the cord . . . you achieve the same effect. while linux/unix maybe an option for some, the majority of users can not understand the difference between internet explorer and windows explorer. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had to explain that a USB Flash Drive appears as a separate drive in windows explorer or any application that wishes to save contents to these drives. Try explaining Linux to those people and you'll end up with more headaches then it's worth. Right now, for the masses, Linux is not an option.

[rkr1958]

AnyDVD tackles Sony DRM Rootkit Virus


http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12624

Since March 2005, Sony BMG is using a rootkit-based DRM system on some newer audio CDs. This DRM system is a serious hazard to each Windows based PC. Well known websites like F-Secure.com and SysInternals.com are confirming this exposure.

If AnyDVD is installed and active on a PC, this new so-called "Sony DRM Rootkit Virus" has no access to the operating system and the affected audio CD appears unprotected regardless!

I'm a big fan of AnyDVD ... bought it and have been using it since June. I didn't realize it provided me with "anti-virus" protection too ... what a plus!

By the way, I found this thread because I came across this story in the mainstream press: Sony BMG Hacking Into CD Buyers' Computers

[mbellot]

I sense a class action lawsuit coming.

No. No. NO!

Tie them up in court on an individual basis. It will hurt Sony a whole lot more than one big lawsuit.

Besides, the only ones who benefit from a class action lawsuit are the lawyers.

Either way it doesn't affect me, I haven't bought a CD (other than a handful of locally produced stuff) in almost a decade. And no, I don't use P2P instead. The garbage being foisted off on the general public is not worth the bandwidth to download, let alone pay actual money for it.

[somebodeez]

World of Warcraft hackers using Sony BMG rootkit

Want to cheat in your online game and not get caught? Just buy a Sony BMG copy protected CD.

World of Warcraft hackers have confirmed that the hiding capabilities of Sony BMG's content protection software can make tools made for cheating in the online world impossible to detect. The software--deemed a "rootkit" by many security experts--is shipped with tens of thousands of the record company's music titles.

Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft, has created a controversial program that detects cheaters by scanning the processes that are running at the time the game is played. Called the Warden, the anti-cheating program cannot detect any files that are hidden with Sony BMG's content protection, which only requires that the hacker add the prefix "$sys$" to file names.

Despite making a patch available on Wednesday to consumers to amend its copy protection software's behavior, Sony BMG and First 4 Internet, the maker of the content protection technology, have both disputed claims that their system could harm the security of a Windows system. Yet, other software makers that rely on the integrity of the operating system are finding that hidden code makes security impossible.

http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/34

[painkiller]

When I first read of Sony BMG's new copy protection system - I wasn't surprised at all. I knew this day was coming.

And now, at long last, Pandora's Box has been opened.

Thank the criminals, folks. Oh, and don't forget a lump of coal for Sony BMG, too.

Thanks to them, I will never - ever - purchase an audio cd ever again.

Radio suits me just fine.

[VegasBud]

AnyDVD tackles Sony DRM Rootkit Virus


http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/12624

Since March 2005, Sony BMG is using a rootkit-based DRM system on some newer audio CDs. This DRM system is a serious hazard to each Windows based PC. Well known websites like F-Secure.com and SysInternals.com are confirming this exposure.

If AnyDVD is installed and active on a PC, this new so-called "Sony DRM Rootkit Virus" has no access to the operating system and the affected audio CD appears unprotected regardless!

The only way to prevent rootkit installation is to prevent the installer from running. If autorun is enabled on the computer, and one of these music CDs is inserted, the rootkit will be installed.

The AnyDvd support forum at CDFreaks says AnyDvd

Disables autorun on Video DVDs. And *only* on Video DVDs

That would provide no protection against the installation of a rootkit from a music CD. AnyDvd may still allow copying a CD even with the rootkit installed, but it won't prevent the rootkit from installing.

If you want to prevent a music cd rootkit from installing, you should disable autorun on your drive(s). If you don't know how, just put "disable autorun" followed by your operating system (xp, win98se, etc) in Google.

[BogieV]

For disabling Autorun even searching web I couldn't find out how to do it some while ago.
The way I did it?
Just go to MS download section and find the Powertoys utility Tweak UI - you can do lots of things with this one within Win XP!!!

[Sartori]

Here's a list of infected CDS:
http://slashdot.org/~xtracto/journal/121088

Personally I think anyone buying a Celine Dion cd gets what they deserve :P

[somebodeez]

The only way to prevent rootkit installation is to prevent the installer from running. If autorun is enabled on the computer, and one of these music CDs is inserted, the rootkit will be installed.

The AnyDvd support forum at CDFreaks says AnyDvd

Disables autorun on Video DVDs. And *only* on Video DVDs

That would provide no protection against the installation of a rootkit from a music CD. AnyDvd may still allow copying a CD even with the rootkit installed, but it won't prevent the rootkit from installing.

I'm not disputing the information that you found and I don't know with 100% certainty that what ANYDVD says is true but this is odd because thier claim is also on thier website:

http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html?aid=50081

But in any case, disabling Auto Run is free and may be the best way to go for those of us who might forget to hold down the shift key

[somebodeez]

How to Turn Off the CD-ROM Autorun

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article03-018