13 Oct 2005
No need to panic over first Nintendo DS malware, reports Sophos
|
| Sophos experts say that there is no need for
panic. |
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have urged
owners of Nintendo DS consoles not to panic following the discovery
of two Trojan horses which target the popular handheld games
device.
The Troj/DSTahen-A and
Troj/DSTahen-B
Trojan horses attempt to wipe out the flash memory, preventing the
Nintendo DS from booting. However, because both Trojan horses are
unapproved custom applications, and not endorsed by Nintendo, they
are only capable of running on modified consoles which have been
altered to allow unsigned code to be run.
"Nintendo DS owners don't need to rush out to buy anti-virus
software for their games console alongside "Super Mario",
"Nintendogs" and "Yoshi Touch & Go". These Trojan horses are
harmless unless you have deliberately modified your console to let
it run unauthorized software," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "These Trojan horses are not
viruses, and cannot replicate. For now Nintendo DS owners need to
worry more about scratching their touch screen through excessive
playing rather than having their console turned into a useless lump
of plastic by these Trojans."
Users of Sophos anti-virus products were
automatically protected against the new Trojan horses. Last week
the first Trojan
horse for Sony's PSP games console was discovered.
Sophos continues to recommend that users exercise caution about
what software they run on their computers, and run the very latest
security software.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.