The last thing you would expect when you take your brand new Netbook home is to find that it is already infected with viruses before you have even had a chance to connect to the Internet but shockingly, this is exactly what Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow based security company found last week.
After noticing that the Netbook wasn’t running quite as well as it should anti virus staff installed Kaspersky’s latest Security solution for Ultra Portable devices and discovered that the new Netbook with Windows XP operating system, which had come straight from the manufacturers, contained Malware, in fact three separate pieces of Malware.
“They thought something strange was going on” said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus researcher with Kaspersky Lab who scanned the machine. “It was completely new, still in its packaging”.
The Netbook that Kaspersky Lab had acquired for testing purposes was a brand new M & A Companion Touch Netbook designed for schools.
Not only did the new Netbook contain Malware, Kaspersky Lab also found that several system restore points had been set already which would indicate that software updates and new drivers had been installed and this was before the new Netbook had even left the factory to be released for sale.
The type of Malware that Kaspersky’s software identified on the Netbook included a worm, a password stealer that collects log in details for online games, and a rootkit. Apparently the Malware had arrived on the computer via an infected USB drive.
Kaspersky is now recommending that all new Netbooks are loaded with their security software and subjected to a full anti-virus scan before connecting it to the Internet.
For those who aren’t sure, Malware is a term that is used when referring to “malicious software” such as spyware or adware which will record details of what you surf on the internet as well as other types of Malware which are considered more serious, such as keyloggers and Trojans.
Keyloggers can record what keys you are pressing and capture things like passwords and bank log in details. Some Trojans install what is known as a “back door” so that personal information can be accessed and sent to another computer.
Kaspersky Lab was founded in 1997 to provide anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-spyware software solutions. They are based in Moscow but have regional offices in Europe, America and the Far East.
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