Part 2 - World of Warcraft hackers using Sony BMG rootkit
11-03-2005, 03:03 PM
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Part 2 - World of Warcraft hackers using Sony BMG rootkit
Published: 2005-11-03
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Want to cheat in your online game and not get caught? Just buy a Sony BMG copy protected CD.
World of Warcraft hackers have confirmed that the hiding capabilities of Sony BMG's content protection software can make tools made for cheating in the online world impossible to detect. The software--deemed a "rootkit" by many security experts--is shipped with tens of thousands of the record company's music titles.
Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft, has created a controversial program that detects cheaters by scanning the processes that are running at the time the game is played. Called the Warden, the anti-cheating program cannot detect any files that are hidden with Sony BMG's content protection, which only requires that the hacker add the prefix "$sys$" to file names.
Despite making a patch available on Wednesday to consumers to amend its copy protection software's behavior, Sony BMG and First 4 Internet, the maker of the content protection technology, have both disputed claims that their system could harm the security of a Windows system. Yet, other software makers that rely on the integrity of the operating system are finding that hidden code makes security impossible.
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/34
check out comments also
Click here for Core Impact!
Want to cheat in your online game and not get caught? Just buy a Sony BMG copy protected CD.
World of Warcraft hackers have confirmed that the hiding capabilities of Sony BMG's content protection software can make tools made for cheating in the online world impossible to detect. The software--deemed a "rootkit" by many security experts--is shipped with tens of thousands of the record company's music titles.
Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft, has created a controversial program that detects cheaters by scanning the processes that are running at the time the game is played. Called the Warden, the anti-cheating program cannot detect any files that are hidden with Sony BMG's content protection, which only requires that the hacker add the prefix "$sys$" to file names.
Despite making a patch available on Wednesday to consumers to amend its copy protection software's behavior, Sony BMG and First 4 Internet, the maker of the content protection technology, have both disputed claims that their system could harm the security of a Windows system. Yet, other software makers that rely on the integrity of the operating system are finding that hidden code makes security impossible.
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/34
check out comments also
11-03-2005, 03:19 PM
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Why I'm thankful I have a Mac....
Shit, I just bought a PC :crazyr:
While PC hardware is nice, I really, really wish WinXP was a decent OS and Linux actually works on a desktop level. Crap like this makes them a joke compared to OS X...
Shit, I just bought a PC :crazyr:
While PC hardware is nice, I really, really wish WinXP was a decent OS and Linux actually works on a desktop level. Crap like this makes them a joke compared to OS X...
11-03-2005, 04:17 PM
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Originally Posted by reno96teg
epoch, sony is the one that deserves to be trashed - in this case - if you ask me.
osx has no appeal to me other than a pretty ui
:fawk:
11-03-2005, 04:29 PM
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Originally Posted by reno96teg
epoch, sony is the one that deserves to be trashed - in this case - if you ask me.
The fact that Windows allows you to hide services from itself is a fairly big security concern IMO. In all honesty, I can't find a single good excuse for even including a feature like that.
Sony certainly also shares the blame in implementing it, but seriously, why does this even exist in the first place?
11-03-2005, 04:34 PM
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Originally Posted by iNteGraz92
mac users will take any chance they can to bash pc's
osx has no appeal to me other than a pretty ui
:fawk:
osx has no appeal to me other than a pretty ui
:fawk:
I'm a dual platform user, and I own both. Mac OS X is an inherently more stable, powerful, and less cluttered OS. The whole comparison can drawn by just looking at how installs/uninstalls act on both platforms, how the individual programs manage their configuration information, and how the applications are bundled after the install.
11-03-2005, 05:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Epoch
The fact that Windows allows you to hide services from itself is a fairly big security concern IMO. In all honesty, I can't find a single good excuse for even including a feature like that.
Sony certainly also shares the blame in implementing it, but seriously, why does this even exist in the first place?
Sony certainly also shares the blame in implementing it, but seriously, why does this even exist in the first place?
then again, some users have roach infestations but that's a whole other genre of tech support horror stories
11-03-2005, 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Epoch
The fact that Windows allows you to hide services from itself is a fairly big security concern IMO. In all honesty, I can't find a single good excuse for even including a feature like that.
Sony certainly also shares the blame in implementing it, but seriously, why does this even exist in the first place?
Sony certainly also shares the blame in implementing it, but seriously, why does this even exist in the first place?
11-03-2005, 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by /^Blackbacca^\
having worked desktop support for both platforms, i would assume that the main reason for hidden files in a windows install is so that users won't delete them accidentally while trying to "fix" a problem on their own. the typical windows or mac user is his/her own worst enemy. if it's visible and can be deleted, some users will find a way. hell, some users will find a way on either platform even if it's not supposed to be able to be deleted.
then again, some users have roach infestations but that's a whole other genre of tech support horror stories
then again, some users have roach infestations but that's a whole other genre of tech support horror stories
11-03-2005, 07:29 PM
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Originally Posted by clickwir
There are rootkits for pretty much any OS. Making windows no less secure than anything else once they have been rooted.