Hidden menace for Vista pirates

Fifty per cent of "cracks" allowing people to use non-activated pirated copies of Vista contain malicious code, a security expert has warned.

John Safa, chief architect at security specialist Drivesentry, said the web is "buzzing" with offers of cracked copies of the new Windows operating system in the run-up to its January 30 launch.

One crack, called the Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06 was exposed late in 2006 as carrying as a rogue Trojan executable.

Safa said: “Approximately 50 per cent of the Vista cracks we tested from popular file-sharing tools are really Trojan horses. Hackers are attaching malicious programs to original cracks and sending the mutated versions back into cyberspace.

"Anyone who then downloads and runs one of these infected cracks will also unlock the malicious program, which could cause irreversible damage to their PCs or data.”

He warned: “By claiming it has locked down Vista, Microsoft has effectively issued an open invitation to the hacking community to prove it wrong.”

Drivesentry sells software-based firewalls for hard drives.

See also:
An introduction to Windows Vista
Review: Windows Vista operating system
Video review: Microsoft Windows Vista operating system
Video: Bill Gates' Vista launch speech in London
Workshop: Make the switch to Vista