Microsoft to Detect, Remove Sony DRM
Following up on earlier indecision, Microsoft said over the weekend that it has decided to detect and remove the rootkit found in Sony's digital rights management, which sparked huge controversy after being discovered on a number of CDs.
Signatures will be added to Windows AntiSpyware shortly, as the December release of Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool. The announcement was made in the company's Anti-Malware Engineering Team blog.
"We use a set of objective criteria for both Windows Defender and the Malicious Software Removal Tool to determine what software will be classified for detection and removal by our anti-malware technology," explained group product manager Jason Garms.
"We have analyzed this software, and have determined that in order to help protect our customers we will add a detection and removal signature...It will also be included in the signature set for the online scanner on Windows Live Safety Center."
Microsoft had initially been criticized for its slow response to the incident. Antivirus vendors such as Sophos, McAfee and Computer Associates all announced they would protect customers from Sony's intrusive software, but Microsoft held back, saying it was "evaluating the current situation."
"If Microsoft calls a rootkit malware, then I don't see how there can be any question how antivirus vendors should treat Sony's DRM software," Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox told BetaNews last week.
"More importantly, if antivirus software starts distinguishing between kinds of rootkits, hackers might be able produce even more nefarious types that mimic something like Sony's DRM mechanism and so go undetected and unremoved," Wilcox added.
Concern over Sony's DRM has also brought about lawsuits in California and New York, which represent consumers who claim the software is damaging to computer systems and violates anti-spyware laws in the two states.
Windows AntiSpyware beta testers will receive the new signatures through the normal update process, and the public can download the Malicious Software Removal Tool on next month's Patch Tuesday.