Keeping one's computer virus-free involves regular attention: you've gotta keep software up to date, invest in and maintain capable anti-virus tools, and steer clear of shady websites. Sometimes, though, malware finds its way in despite one's best efforts.
That might be what a few unlucky Eee Box B202 buyers in Japan are thinking. According to China Tech News, Asus has accidentally shipped some of the low-cost desktop systems with a virus on their hard drives. Here's how the malware manifests itself:
The virus, known as recycled.exe, resides on the D drive of the machine and once opened, the virus will be activated and copy itself to the C drive as well as any other removable or USB drives. Affected by the virus, the running of the computer will become slow and it may download harmful malware programs from the Internet.
Asus PR rep Li claims the virus made its way in while the systems were getting Japanese software pre-installed. The virus didn't hit other production lines, though, so Eee Box PCs Asus sold in other countries are reportedly clean. As for the infected Japanese machines, Li said Asus has issued a recall. The company also plans to beef up security in its production lines to avoid a repeat of the incident.
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