I have read several articles over the past few years reporting incidents in which new technology was infected with malware before the owner ever had a chance to use it. Normally the technology had been imported from over seas.
When I first read these stories I shook my head and wondered, if you can’t trust brand new technology to be clean of malware, what can you expect t0 be safe? Nothing? Well, apparently this disturbing trend has only continued and possibly worsened.
A recent story from MSNBC confirms that the trend of new technology infections has increased enough for the main stream press to pick up on the issue. The MSNBC article is based on a post from Fast Company, “DHS: Imported Consumer Tech Contains Hidden Hacker Attack Tools.”
At this point there are more questions then answers. Is pre-use malware just an occasional problem? Is it always technology from over seas? What is the source of the problem? Hopefully we will have answers relatively soon.
In the end, unfortunately, the only way to be certain your new purchase is safe is to make sure all computer-related technology is tested before you begin to actively use it. This would include computers, cell phones, flash drives and other storage devices.
Careful computer out there folks.