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Security Flaw Affects Sony MicroVault Drives

by Tom Conlon on September 5, 2007 at 08:36 AM

Security Flaw Affects Sony MicroVault DrivesIf you use one of those Sony MicroVault USB drives with a built-in fingerprint reader, the extra security measures you're taking to protect your files may be doing more harm than good -- this according to Sony itself.

A security flaw, which affects three models of the company's MicroVault USB sticks, has been discovered that works by allowing hackers to bury malicious code and files in the hidden directory created by the fingerprint-reading software, which then makes them invisible to many virus scanning and security programs.

Though a third-party company developed the software that runs on the sticks, Sony has had problems with bad security software in the past – most notably in 2005 when it hid anti-piracy software on its music CDs that opened up the computers of more than a million users to attacks from hackers.

What can you do? Obviously, don't buy this product. Despite a recall, some of the tainted MicroVaults can still be found on the sites of many online retailers. If you already own one, hold off on using it until mid-September when Sony says it will release a downloadable fix, which we expect will show up on the official MicroVault support site.

From BBC

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Tags: exploit, hack, hacker, phish, recall, security, sony

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