Dell server owners beware...Hardware Trojan Installed by Factory!

Computer maker Dell is warning, according to The Register, that some of its server motherboards have been delivered to customers carrying an unwanted extra: computer malware. It could be confirmation that the "hardware trojans" long posited by some security experts are indeed a real threat.

Unlike hard-drive-based computer viruses which can be disabled by antivirus software, a hardware trojan lives out of reach of such defences. It comprises some kind of alteration - by sabotage or accident - to the very heart of a computer: its microprocessors, memory chips or circuit boards.

News that Dell may have a hardware trojan problem emerged on a support forum after a user was warned by a Dell call centre that the firm's PowerEdge R410 server motherboard contains spyware of unspecified function that a Dell engineer needed to come and remove.

Dell confirms on the same forum: "The potential issue involves a small number of PowerEdge server motherboards sent out through service dispatches that may contain malware. This malware code has been detected on the embedded server management firmware."

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/07/pc-giant-warns-of-hardware-tro.html