Insignia Digital Photo Frames Shipped With a Virus

Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:14PM EST

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A frightening new computer virus is making the rounds, and it's coming in through an unlikely source: Those cute, innocuous, and unavoidable digital picture frames.

SFGate has the story of a nasty piece of malware that has been riding along with Insignia brand photo frames, which were largely sold in Best Buy and Sam's Club stores (and possibly other outlets) over the holidays. The virus, which I've yet to find an actual name for, is reportedly "easy to clean," according to Insignia, but at least one IT expert (who was running antivirus software) tells a horror story about it, saying it took him 12 hours to rebuild his own, infected machine. All from simply plugging the frame into his PC.

This is hardly the first time that a technology product has shipped with a virus infection. Apple made headlines in 2006 for shipping a Windows virus on numerous video iPods. In recent years, products from Creative Labs, TomTom, Seagate, and even a cheap McDonald's gadget have come from the factory bearing unwanted gifts.

But infected photo frames represent an even trickier scenario since many of the people using them are likely to be computer novices as opposed to, say, those plugging in a high-end GPS.

Worried about your own new frame? The good news is that the damage appears limited to Insignia frames and only the 10.4-inch model (model number NS-DPF-10A). If you're sitting on one of these that you haven't yet plugged in, don't connect it to your computer; call Insignia at 877-467-4289 for instructions on what to do. If you have a different model frame, you should be OK for now.

Comments on Insignia Digital Photo Frames Shipped With a Virus

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  • 6 Posted by cnull on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    To answer comments #1 and 2 -- no one's entirely sure, but they end up in the memory of the device somewhere during production, usually thanks to some prankster along the way. It could be at the Insignia factory or it could be even earlier in the line when the flash memory is manufactured. No one has said in this case.

  • 7 Posted by alan_r_cam on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not cheap brands- cheap assembly practice. Apple's high price doesn't ensure quality, it ensures profit.

  • 8 Posted by mikeviani on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:20PM EDT Report Abuse

    All the more reason to not buy this brand. Their products are garbage as it is and now they send them to you with a virus. Stay away from this brand!

  • 9 Posted by goonersf on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    This seems easily avoidable. Load your photos on a portable USB drive and then use that to load them into the frame.

  • 10 Posted by bharma on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    But what does the virus do?

  • 12 Posted by yavin_73 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    I hate when news takes forever to get posted. this problem was around christmas and has been fixed. Also Ingignia is a best Buy brand and is not sold in SAMs Club or anywhere else but Best Buy.

  • 14 Posted by rackandroll03 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    People who spend their time making computer viruses are total geeks. They are the zeros who could not make any sports teams in high school. The losers who couldn't get a date. The pencil necked pocket protector wearing dweebs who have now figured out how to electronically "Columbine" us all You will feel my wrath now. I hate them

  • 15 Posted by jessdwoofter on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    Why aren't more of these items manufactured in the US? Lord knows we could use the jobs!

  • 16 Posted by monza62000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    this is why we need to start makeing this stuff in the usa...imports dontlast...and nothing but recalls..save your money..what else are they going to ship to us ..nukes

  • 17 Posted by londo_h_mollari on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    a good stiff lawsuit should put an end to this bull----- ! There is NO excuse for a manufacturer to NOT KNOW (or NOT CARE) that their product has imbedded viruses. How the heck would a virus make its' way into the inner sanctum of a high tech factory in the first place??!! Not only would a good lawsuit help, but holding the upper management / owners criminally liable would help too!

  • 18 Posted by cheecheepong on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    What is wrong with people nowadays? They try to make the lives of others worse instead of making theirs better by putting viruses into electronics.

  • 19 Posted by logan_herbert on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    You ever think that maybe this huge interconnected network of binary code is starting to reprogram itself? Perhaps not consciousness...but logical computations resulting in task/function re-assignment. In short...maybe the viruses are coming from WITHIN...not externally. Not quite to the point of T2/Robots just yet...but every idea has potential of manifesting.

  • 20 Posted by ybnorman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    One More Way The Chinese Are Invading The U.S.A.

  • 21 Posted by redheadthompson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    This is why we should stop outsourcing to China! The companies that ship this with viruses should have to pay the consumer for recovery. Or if yours is infected, that them to small claims court.

  • 22 Posted by plazma.kiddo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have absolutely no idea what this virus does lol, but I'm pretty sure it has to be a nasty virus, like the woms and stuff, my friend had t reformat his computer just to get rid of a worm virus, they tamper with your computer. someone better put a stop to this rofl =P

  • 23 Posted by squat_rack on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:37PM EDT Report Abuse

    I"m not surprised. When software companies stop treating software quality assurance as an afterthought, problems like this will be reduced.

  • 24 Posted by toymantoymantoyman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    My frame doesnt connect to my pic...the files are on SD cards and are separate from my pc... Just pic a frame that doesn't hook to your computer

  • 25 Posted by georgestanly on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    Can someone tell me more about the other virus infections mentioned or guide me to where I can find more information on this ? I have Creative Labs (webcam), TomTom (GPS) and Seagate (external harddrive)?

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