September 17th, 2008
ASUS ships crack tool and serials on recovery DVD
This is interesting:
Asus is accidentally shipping software crackers and confidential documents on the recovery DVDs that come with its laptops.
The startling discovery was made by a PC Pro reader whose antivirus software was triggered by a key cracker for the WinRAR compression software, which was located on the recovery DVD for his Asus laptop.
But it doesn’t end there:
He discovered a number of other suspicious files, including:
* A directory called “Crack” that appears to contain serial numbers for other software packages
* A directory containing a large number of confidential Microsoft documents for PC manufacturers, including associated keys and program files
* Various internal Asus documents and source code for Asus softwareThe reader sent the disc to PC Pro, and we can confirm the existence of such files.
The key cracker is found in the WinRAR application folder on the recovery disc and is credited to “Freddy Cruger”.
It gets better:
One of the confidential Asus documents includes a PowerPoint presentation that details “major problems” identified by the company, including application compatibility issues.
So, we have a crack tool, serials, confidential Microsoft documents, internal documents and a PowerPoint highlighting compatibility issues. This is either deliberate or someone was really careless.
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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| 09/17/08
