SONY's Latest Screwup

Which one, you ask.
This one has to do with another (yes, another!) rootkit problem. And it has to do with, ironically enough, their secure USB stick. How in the world, after learning a very bitter lesson with their idiotic DRM rootkit 'protection', SONY can create another fine mess is beyond me.

I really think they need a rethink on how they approach security, be it authentication via fingerprint analysis or simply protection of IP. Security by obfuscation is not security - it's a pathetic camouflage that will come unraveled before you know it. Companies such as F-Secure, McAfee are not twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next threat - they can already foresee what hackers are going to be up to.

And in such cases, rootkit exploits are passe' and so can be easily detected, as F-Secure did with SONY's misguided implementation of fingerprint data protection using that horrid method.

The problem here is not that SONY chose to protect the data, but the way they set about doing it. I think I can smell another class action suit rising up from within the dark war-rooms of plaintiff firms.

So, another lesson learned - a final one, we hope.

Be safe!