Asus recalls Japanese Asus Eee Box PCs due to virus

You click OK on a message while surfing the Internet and suddenly your computer is full of malicious software and viruses. That's bad. What could be worse, however, is when your brand new computer comes pre-loaded with malicious software.

According to ChinaTechNews.com, Asus announced a recall yesterday of its Asus Eee Box PCs that it had sold in Japan because it was shipped with a virus.

The computers had a file called recycled.exe residing on the D drive. Once executed, the file would copy itself to other drives, including USB drives, and install malicious software from the Internet. This causes the computer to slow down and exposes it to security threats.

Li Yusheng, an Asus representative, told ChinaTechNews.com that the incident was an accident and affected only the production line of Eee Box PCs sold to Japan. Li also said that apart from the recall, the computer maker will impose stricter measures on production line management and software protection.

While the virus is disturbing, the good news is that only about 300 allegedly infected Eee Box PCs already sold in the Japanese market need to be recalled. -Dong Ngo