Microsoft will Remove Sony Rootkit

[Math Is Hard]

After dithering for a few days over whether to categorize Sony's new audio CD copy protection system as spyware, Microsoft on Friday announced that the next update to its antispyware package would indeed remove the Sony code from users' PCs. Microsoft will include the removal code in an update to the recently renamed Windows Defender, formerly Windows AntiSpyware. Sony's system is based on a rootkit, typically used by malicious hackers to keep their malware hidden. Sony was using it to prevent users from pirating its CDs.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=48441

 

[DammiT]

http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html has released a list of all those titles infected with the rootkit. If you've played one on your machine you'll need to fix it.

 

[mattmns]

MS releasing a patch to stop spyware? I am guessing that the patch also removes Internet Explorer right? I think IE is probably the #1 way spyware enters a computer.