Virginia Lawyers Weekly

By Larry Fiorino

The latest tech gadgets are exciting to own and even more fun to use. From MP3 players to portable GPS systems, technology has given Americans more options for digitalizing their everyday lives than ever before.

However, owning one of the newest high-tech items can be more than some people bargained for.

Consumers are discovering some of their most prized possessions are actually harboring pre-installed viruses that can steal passwords, open doors for hackers and automate computers to send unsolicited spam messages.

The tainted devices, including some iPods, TomTom navigation systems and digital picture frames, rely on connections to a host computer. Once connected, the viruses are deposited and become activated while continually spreading through the user’s operating system.

It is believed the majority of the tainted electronics have resulted from lax quality standards in several Chinese factories. The recent discovery has ironically become the digital equivalent to many other dangerous revelations about consumer products manufactured in China.

In general, two significant opportunities exist for viruses to become uploaded during production of most electronics. Occasionally, viruses can be introduced in the beginning stages when the operating software is uploaded into the item.

However, more often than not, viruses are uploaded in the final stage of production when the item is plugged into the computer for testing and malicious software from a tainted computer is transferred.

Overall, it has been difficult to track and tally the number of items that have been infected, due to the stringent business policies among electronics manufacturers, but efforts have been started to tighten security standards.

The vast majority of the viruses that may exist in a new gadget can be detected and quickly eliminated with common anti-virus software. So it is critically important to update anti-virus software regularly and take a few extra minutes to run the scan after plugging in a new item.

A few minutes spent on a virus scan could mean the difference between enjoying your new gadget or regretting you ever purchased it.

Larry Fiorino, the founder and chief executive of G.1440, a Baltimore-based e-solutions firm, wrote this piece for The Daily Record, another Dolan Media publication.

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