Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

rmcybernetics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 342 posts

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#261

Post by Ccecil »

johnmoonyy wrote: post #256
Ccecil wrote: post #220

About 8 years ago one of our devs purchased a couple Android tablets from China to test if they would work as a host for Smoothieware (and/or 3d printers). It had malware prebundled at the ROM level. You could not remove it by wiping Android (IIRC..our dev that tracked the issue said he had to block what it was doing). The tablet forced your homepage...regardless of what you set it to...and I believe he said it was p…

Does this include headphones that connect to my phone via bluetooth?

That depends. Can those headphones store any amount of information and possibly relay that information to another bluetooth device upon connecting to that? If not...are you absolutely sure it isn't? Anything with memory, a transmitter and an MCU "could" be doing a lot more than it is advertised as doing.

Not saying it is though...but is it possible. Absolutely

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#262

Post by echevil »

Ccecil wrote: post #220

About 8 years ago one of our devs purchased a couple Android tablets from China to test if they would work as a host for Smoothieware (and/or 3d printers). It had malware prebundled at the ROM level. You could not remove it by wiping Android (IIRC..our dev that tracked the issue said he had to block what it was doing). The tablet forced your homepage...regardless of what you set it to...and I believe he said it was p…

What was the brand / model of the tablet? And did the malware do anything else than force setting your homepage?

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#263

Post by megous »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #45
disgu wrote: post #17

> Presumably it would be a way to steal company information such as designs, accounts, and so on. Does it collect user metrics like a lot of software does or does it actually steal designs? The report is absolutely not clear about this. I have not read many reports like this but are they all like the one they link to? Is that what a malware analysis looks like? I'm completely behind the idea of calling every single s…

> Does it collect user metrics like a lot of software does or does it actually steal designs? The reports mark it as a Trojan/backdoor. This means it gives the company remote access to the machine. They can do whatever they want with it. This isn’t anything like analytics reporting.

Anything with remote updates falls into that category.

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#264

Post by Ccecil »

echevil wrote: post #262
Ccecil wrote: post #220

About 8 years ago one of our devs purchased a couple Android tablets from China to test if they would work as a host for Smoothieware (and/or 3d printers). It had malware prebundled at the ROM level. You could not remove it by wiping Android (IIRC..our dev that tracked the issue said he had to block what it was doing). The tablet forced your homepage...regardless of what you set it to...and I believe he said it was p…

What was the brand / model of the tablet? And did the malware do anything else than force setting your homepage?

I still have one at the shop in a box. I will look when I go there.

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#265

Post by megous »

Ccecil wrote: post #220

About 8 years ago one of our devs purchased a couple Android tablets from China to test if they would work as a host for Smoothieware (and/or 3d printers). It had malware prebundled at the ROM level. You could not remove it by wiping Android (IIRC..our dev that tracked the issue said he had to block what it was doing). The tablet forced your homepage...regardless of what you set it to...and I believe he said it was p…

TBH, this sounds like nonsense. What kind of ROM? There are not many ROMs in tablet SoCs. And how would it affect Android install in such a specific way? Wipe the whole eMMC and install a fresh, clean AOSP build and something is forcing a home page in a browser? Without a lot more detail, this sounds all kinds of improbable.

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#266

Post by dathinab »

toyg wrote: post #90
defanor wrote: post #24

The malware is a cherry on top, but the story before that is pretty awful already, and unfortunately seems to be representative of specialized software like that: proprietary (with constant risk of malware, indeed), awkward, poorly (if at all) documented, likely the protocols to speak to the hardware without it are kept in secret, and occasional shipment of Windows machines where just software would do (but probably…

Tbf, the focus on secrecy is probably because everything in China is at risk of being copied / ripped off by competitors at the drop of a hat. Being an IP wild west has its drawbacks.

The problem is this approaches tend to not really prevent the rip of as any of this obscuring methods tend to not hold against someone with expertise in subverting them. Which companies which do this kind of rip-offs tend to have...

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#267

Post by paul7986 »

orf wrote: post #196
paul7986 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can all downvote me all u want but my thoughts and the things I type/say on HN later show to be true.

I’d say it’s mostly pretty vanilla cookie-cutter conspiracy nonsense, which is rarely true. Unless you’d like to take the time to specify the truths you’ve been saying and that everyone else has been ignoring?

none of it is conspiracy

Science always evolves so dont listen or jump on the early science bandwagon until year(s) down the road. The CDC has changed their guidance ... i was forced to get vaxed and i loathe it(past month ive had a metallic taste in my mouth wth). Got the flu shot after decades on the market already admin(ed) to millions over years time. Covid vaccines we already see the J&J shot isnt the one to get but the CDC said we should in March but said something different in December ... same with masks updating things. They don't have a true real clue about this or you think they know everything about it? IF so why do they keep updating the guidelines that we were told to follow early 2021?

Where is the conspiracy in what i just wrote? THat i don't believe and loathe early science... ever seen those hernia mesh lawsuit commercials i am victim to such as well an early drug damaged one of my organs. I live by experience not bias media political early science b.s.!

Personally I think china is the enemy to the world .. that's just an opinion. You can think they are friends to the world thats up to you .. your opinion.

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#268

Post by Ccecil »

megous wrote: post #265
Ccecil wrote: post #220

About 8 years ago one of our devs purchased a couple Android tablets from China to test if they would work as a host for Smoothieware (and/or 3d printers). It had malware prebundled at the ROM level. You could not remove it by wiping Android (IIRC..our dev that tracked the issue said he had to block what it was doing). The tablet forced your homepage...regardless of what you set it to...and I believe he said it was p…

TBH, this sounds like nonsense. What kind of ROM? There are not many ROMs in tablet SoCs. And how would it affect Android install in such a specific way? Wipe the whole eMMC and install a fresh, clean AOSP build and something is forcing a home page in a browser? Without a lot more detail, this sounds all kinds of improbable.

I wasn't the one doing the work on it and I may be incorrect about how it was working. It was at a level where it wasn't a simple update software fix...it required more. Asking now to see about specifics.

What I do know for sure was it was bad enough that we decided never use them.

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#269

Post by echevil »

Ccecil wrote: post #264
echevil wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the brand / model of the tablet? And did the malware do anything else than force setting your homepage?

I still have one at the shop in a box. I will look when I go there.

Curious because I do use a lot of devices from Chinese makers myself and had no issues so far. If it's from a legit brand, I'd need to take a closer look at their products before buying more.

Re: We purchased a machine from China and it came with malware preinstalled

#270

Post by toss1 »

mach1ne wrote: post #99
toss1 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, and it's even more directed than that. Western MBAs and politicians think they know that manufacturing is just a fungible commodity and think that we're exploiting cheap Chinese labor to 'drive shareholder value'. While they have this myopic focus on quarterly results, the CCP has a 100- and 500-year plan, and is happily exploiting that myopia for strategic economic and military value, including subsidizing mass…

This was the case some 10 years ago, but Chinese labor is no longer cheap. The wealth brought in by making China the factory of the world drove the income level of its middle class up and now there are few advantages in manufacturing your products in China. Western manufacturers are constantly pulling their factories back from China, many having gained an ultimate net loss from moving in in the 90s and now relocating…

Yes, they have made a net loss, and meanwhile transferred an insane amount of technology to China. But those managers got their bonuses and are long-gone...

And sure Chinese labor isn't as cheap, they've moved up the value chain some, but it is still cheap enough compared to US wages to make items and ship them here - particularly with China's lax environmental and labor laws.

The relocations to even cheaper labor-rate counties are still an improvement, as at least they aren't creating all levels of strategic disadvantage...

Post reply on HN