If you buy a Sony CD with DRM, it looks like you get it on your Mac, too. But contrary to some of the chatter out there, it’s NOT a rootkit. It’s just typical DRM stuff from SunnComm. Still not good, but quite a bit different than a rookit.
Sony BMG’s ‘rootkit’ copy protection technology may affect Macs – and the software can also be exploited by malicious hackers, reports claim.
MacInTouch reports claims by a reader who recently purchased a Sony BMG CD. The reader found that the CD installs a Mac application, “Start.app” which itself installs two files: PhoenixNub1.kext and PhoenixNub12.kext.
This is not the same software that is causing such a furore against Sony BMG at present. The Register claims: “It’s a Mac version of SunnComm’s DRM software, MediaMax, which Sony BMG uses to copy-protect a range of CDs.”
Alex Eckelberry