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What Did Sony Know And When Did They Know It?
John Stith
Staff Writer
2005-11-30
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Everyone loves a great conspiracy story and Sony BMG is in the middle of one right now. They've lied about things, they've damaged computers, and they've even got the requisite cover-up. This isn't some crazy spy movie, it's the real thing. Word is out now, Sony knew about the rootkit and the problems it would cause well in advance of the current fiasco.
Since the recap has been recapped multiple times, a lot probably doesn't need to be mentioned except for the fact that Sony knew about the problem. Finnish security firm F-Secure spotted the problem with the discs on Sept. 30th and on October 4th, F-Secure informed Sony BMG of the problems with the discs, nearly a month before Russinovich made the issue public.
In a BusinessWeek article from Tuesday, they talked to F-Secure anti-virus research director Mikko Hpponen. He told them, "If [Sony} had woken up and smelled the coffee when we told them there was a problem, we would've avoided this trouble. He went on to say no action was really started until Oct. 17th. They told Sony it was "major security risk."
Their article also mentioned a PC-repair company called TecAngels.com spotting the rootkit and they said it had been showing up all over the place. Sure enough, it was the Sony package.
Sony BMG has turned this whole thing into a textbook case of bad PR and what not to do in crisis management. So Sony knew about this whole thing well in advance. When someone or some group gets involved in a coverup, many times it generally ends poorly. Whether you're a president lying about something or you're a corporate executive, the lying is something one can't really tolerate, particularly when the blogosphere is calling for your head.
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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