Microsoft have annouced that they will be updating their Malicious Software Removal Tool to detect and remove Sony’s CD protection ‘rootkit’.
A rootkit is a collection of software usually with malicious intent and installed on a computer usually without the owners knowledge to give someone else unrestricted access to a computer. Sony recently took this rather dubious route to protecting their music CDs by installing software on a users machine to detect the habits of the owner of a given music CD, and ‘phone home’ to Sony if the user was determined to be copying the CD illegally, presumably so Sony had evidence in order to prosecute that user.
Obviously this software has got a lot of attention from people upset with Sony’s covert tactic, and in a surprising response, Microsoft will be updating their security tools for users so the rootkit can be removed.