Conficker worm reappears
Electronics accessory maker Hama has admitted that a 35mm photographic film scanner sold to German consumers over Christmas came with a software disk infected with the irrepressible Conficker worm.
Reported earlier this month but only noticed by eagle-eyed reporters now, the report on Heise Security said that the slide scanner, sold through the Tchibo chain for about £50 (US$79) a shot, loaded the malware when the main executable was run.
Having appeared all of four years ago, the Conficker.b variant can be detected with any antivirus scanner but consumers should not underestimate the malware's ability to jump on to unprotected systems. As is typical for worms that use storage to spread, it makes that leap via the Windows autorun routine. (See also "Conficker Set to Strike: Protect Yourself with These Tips and Tools.")
