Dell Shipping Malware-Infected Mobos

The ramifications are staggering.

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ROUND ROCK (Radsoft) — Dell have admitted that some of their server motherboards are infected by Windows malware. The ramifications are staggering.

'The PowerEdge R410 Rack server has spyware within its embedded systems management software', reports John Oates of The Register. 'Some forms of malware are likely to have spread if the hardware has been attached to a network.'

Which of course it most likely would be.

A poster to the 'Dell Community' forum posed the question yesterday.

I just got a telephone call from a service scheduler informing me that the replacement R410 motherboard I received several weeks ago contains spyware in its embedded systems management firmware, and wanting to schedule an additional service call for a tech to come clean it off.

'DELL-Matt M' from Dell replied.

The service phone call you received was in fact legitimate. As part of Dell's quality process, we have identified a potential issue with our service mother board stock, like the one you received for your PowerEdge R410, and are taking preventative action with our customers accordingly.

Of course the ramifications are staggering. The people at Dell know of the dangers of Windows. They're aware of the fact that Google are totally scuppering it. They're also aware that malware today is generated by and spreads solely to Windows systems. They're even marketing Ubuntu alternatives for their customers.

To continue selling Windows is one thing. To use it in-house is another. And it's totally unforgivable.

See Also
The Register: Dell warns on spyware infected server motherboards
Dell Community: PowerEdge R410 replacement motherboard contains malware?!