Ipods Shipped With Viruses

Apple shipped a bunch of Ipods that were installed with a virus that opens a backdoor on Windows systems to hackers. Apple says, “Oops, we don’t know how to run AV programs on our own Windows based computers.”

From the AP here:

Apple Computer Inc. said a fraction of its iPod players sold in the past month contained a virus that affects Windows systems.

The problem affected less than 1 percent of the video iPods that were available for purchase after Sept. 12, according to a posting on Apple’s technical support Web site. The company has received less than 25 reports concerning the problem, Apple said.

The iPods got the virus from a Windows computer at one of its manufacturing plants, Apple said. The virus, RavMonE.exe, is known to spread through external data storage devices when they are connected to computers and affects only machines running the Windows operating system from Apple rival Microsoft Corp. Security experts say the virus opens up further security holes for hackers.

Up-to-date anti-virus software included with most Windows computers should detect and remove it, Apple said.

Hey Apple, besides admitting that your own manufacturing plants are running Windows, how about following your advice and updating your AV for those plants?