Energizer bunny in hacker scare

 

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By Hani Megerisi

Posted on 8 Mar 2010 at 13:44

The Energizer bunny has finally been stopped – by a Trojan horse.

A USB-powered battery charger, available from the company, was found to contain the Arucer.dll Trojan, according to the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) – a branch of the country’s Homeland Security.

An attacker is able to remotely control a system, including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user

The file was hidden in the Windows driver software provided with the Energizer DUO charger. It listens for commands on port 7777 and, once activated, could download and execute files as well as send information to a remote hacker. Mac users are unaffected.

“An attacker is able to remotely control a system, including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs," said the CERT statement. "The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user."

The Energizer DUO charger and its software have been sold throughout Europe, Asia and the US since 2007.

Energizer said in a statement that it had discontinued the unit and was “working with both CERT and US Government officials to understand how the code was inserted in the software”. The company has warned any users who have the DUO charger to uninstall it immediately.

CERT has also advised that blocking the 7777 port on a computer will block network connectivity through the backdoor.