Digital photo frames ship with computer virus

Holiday purchasers at risk of malware infection
 
Experts at SophosLabs, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have reminded users of the importance of computer security following the disclosure that digital photo frames sold in the holiday season carried a virus.

Insignia NS-DPF10A digital photo frames, which connect to PCs via USB, were "contaminated with a computer virus during the manufacturing process" according to a notice posted on the company's website.

Insignia published information about the infected products on its website.

Retail giant Best Buy is the exclusive vendor of Insignia products, and has said it is trying to contact customers who have purchased the 10.4 inch picture frames.

"The good news is that the virus which has made its way onto some of the digital photo frames has been around for some years, and just about every anti-virus product should have no difficulties in intercepting the infection," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "From that point of view, Best Buy is lucky, and things could have been a lot worse. Their challenge now is getting a message to the many people who may have purchased the frames in the run-up to the holidays and may not have the right protection in place. Technology producers need to not lose sight of data security, and be careful that malware doesn't creep onto their devices at manufacture."

About Sophos

Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK.