Microsoft to remove Sony malware from PCs

Microsoft said it would remove controversial copy-protection software
that CDs from music publisher Sony BMG install on personal computers,
deeming it a security risk to PCs running on Windows.

The XCP program, developed by First4Internet in Britain and used on
music CDs by Sony BMG to restrict copying and sharing, has generated
concern amongst computer users, because it acts like virus software
and hides deep inside a computer where it leaves the backdoor open for
other viruses.

"We have analyzed this software and have determined that in order to
help protect our customers, we will add a detection and removal
signature for the rootkit component of the XCP software to the Windows
AntiSpyware beta, which is currently used by millions of users," Jason
Garms, group program manager of the Anti-Malware Technology Team, said
on Microsoft's Technet blog.

Microsoft will also use it in other anti-virus software. "Detection
and removal of this rootkit component will also appear in Windows
Defender when its first public beta is available. We also plan to
include this signature in the December monthly update to the Malicious
Software Removal Tool," Garms added.

(MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)
Other computer virus fighters such as Sophos in Britain have offered a
removal kit since Thursday but have stressed it was a tricky operation
resembling open heart surgery.

Sony BMG last week provided a patch to make the program more visible
after the discovery that hackers had taken advantage of the weakness
to install viruses on PCs.

Outcry
Responding to public outcry, the music publishing venture of Japanese
electronics conglomerate Sony Corp. and Germany's Bertelsmann AG also
said on Friday it would temporarily suspend the manufacture of music
CDs containing XCP technology.

Asked to comment, the music publisher referred to its Friday
statement. Last week, Sony BMG was targeted in a class action lawsuit
complaining it had not disclosed the true nature of its
copy-protection software.

Sony BMG's patch does not remove the program, which installs itself on
a Windows-operated personal computer when consumers want to play
certain Sony BMG music CDs. According to programmers it still leaves
a security hole.

That was after the U.S. government had weighed in. A representative
of the U.S. government last week warned entertainment publishers
against using CD and DVD copy protection software that hides inside
computers.

"It's very important to remember that it's your intellectual property;
it's not your computer. And in the pursuit of protection of
intellectual property, it's important not to defeat or undermine the
security measures that people need to adopt in these days," said
Stewart Baker, the assistant secretary the Department of Homeland
Security, at a conference.

The Sony copy-protection software does not install itself on Macintosh
computers or ordinary CD and DVD players.

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