Malware warning on HP USB keys

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Hewlett-Packard has been selling USB keys which are pre-infected with malware.

The 256KB and 1GB HP USB floppy drive keys, are designed for use with HP’s ProLiant line of servers to install optional floppy disk drives, but they can also be used on other computers.

The USB keys, which are a combination flash drive and compact floppy drive, are infected with W32.Fakerecy and W32.SillyFDC worms, which spread by copying themselves to removable or mapped drives.

They affect systems running Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows NT and Windows 2000.

HP is advising users to disable the default autorun settings on their computer and ensure that up to date anti-virus software is installed.

As a safety precaution, a virus scan should be run on any media before either installing or using it.

According to a security analyst at the SANS Institute’s Internet Storm Centre, it is likely that the infection originated at the factory and was intended to target ProLiant servers.

The threat from the worms is considered to be low, and is not expected to escalate to epidemic proportions. HP believes that only a small number of customers will be affected.