Ever had an urge to really get a visual on what masterfully written predatory code would look like if allowed to grow into a 3D organism? Okay, so maybe that hasn't been on the forefront of your mind recently, but there's no denying that Alex Dragulescu's Malwarez project is quite the source of eye candy. According to its maker, the aforementioned initiative is a "series of visualization of worms, viruses, trojans and spyware code," and their "frequency, density and grouping are mapped to the inputs of an algorithm that grows a virtual 3D entity." Who knew viruses could look so dreamy?

[Thanks, Danger Mouse]

As we noted a week back, Best Buy's house-brand Insignia photo frames are indeed virus-infected, but now it appears Best Buy is doing something about it. Unfortunately, info is still slim at the moment from company lips. Best Buy says it's "connecting with our customers who may have been impacted," and has pulled remaining inventory from the shelves, but there are no plans for a recall of the infected NS-DPF10A, and Best Buy won't specify what specific type of malware we're dealing with. Best Buy seems to think that anti-virus software should have no problem dealing with the old-ish trojan in the frames, and recommends customers plug the frame into a PC and run some current anti-virus software to eradicate the malware. Macs are unaffected, and Apple could be seen on the playground making smarmy remarks about the incident to anyone who'd listen.

We haven't exactly gotten a torrent of email complaints from angry Best Buy customers, but for anyone wondering why the $230 Insignia 10.4-inch photo frame got pulled from shelves last week, here's your answer: they were manufactured, like devices sometimes are, with a supposedly "old and easily removed" trojan. Funny, though, that the internal memo we got has Best Buy dragging its feet, intending to send a letter to potentially infected customers only "once a solution has been tested and confirmed." Here's a solution: recall the frames and send everyone some anti-virus software and a free appointment with the Geek Squad, instead of letting sites like ours break the news that Best Buy isn't moving fast to fix its digital security mishaps. The memo is posted after the break.

Joining the infamous Chip & PIN terminal hacks as yet another way to siphon banking details from unlucky Londoners, a group of "malware purveyors" reportedly dropped off tempting Trojan-infused USB drives in a UK parking lot in hopes that unsuspecting individuals would take the bait and subsequently hand over their banking credentials. Supposedly, Check Point regional director Nick Lowe mentioned the wile at the Infosec trade show, but couldn't elaborate due to the ongoing investigation. Another insight suggested that such chicanery was becoming "the new phishing email," but hey, where's the love for those oh-so-vulnerable ATMs? Take note, dear Brits, that the free storage you're eying on the park bench could end up costing you quite a bit in the long run.

Normally we'd start off a post about the sale of Canadian Troy Hurtubise's Trojan fully-armored exoskeleton with a few amusing Robocop quips, but the reason Troy has to let his crazy, high-tech creation go makes such frivolity seem a little inappropriate. You see, Troy -- inventor of such products as several well-documented bear suits, a fire-resistant paste, and a strange device that he claims can see through walls and skin -- spent $150,000 developing the Trojan (apparently his family's entire savings), along with 1,800 hours on everything from calibrating the helmet-mounted laser to designing the unique, um, crotch-mounted digital compass / world clock. Well even after all the media exposure that made his get-up something of an internet celebrity recently, Troy was unable to find any buyers interested in mass producing what was projected to be a $2,000 piece of equipment -- reportedly leaving him broke and facing eviction. If you do decide to pursue this one-of-a-kind wearable tank (it can supposedly withstand a shotgun blast at point blank), keep in mind that you're getting more than just the suit itself, as Troy is also throwing in rights to the so-called "Shadow Armor" formula that he developed; entrepreneurial military contractors take note. So far there hasn't been a single offer on the badass Trojan, and with a starting bid of only $1,000, there's a chance that you could pick this beauty up for a song (the reserve, however, is unknown). We had a pretty funny Batman joke to close things out with, but instead we'll just direct you to the video after the break, and use this space to wish Troy and his family the best of luck.

[Via The Hamilton Spectator, thanks Bill D.]

If you've recently plunked down $599-ish for a TomTom GO 910 portable GPS device, but decided to hop onto the interwebs real quick just before you plug that sucker in (yeah, we know, the odds are low), then it looks like it's your lucky day. Apparently the Netherlands-based TomTom just admitted to a UK security journalist that the TomTom GO 910s that were produced between September and November of 2006 have been shipping with a couple Trojans -- similar to Apple's little RavMonE.exe debacle last year. But not to worry: "The viruses that were detected present an extremely low risk to customers' computers," according to TomTom. Of course, relaying to the public such helpful information that TomTom was obviously aware of would be clearly out of the question, but it's nice to know that while manufacturing oversights caused a couple of Trojans to be introduced to unsuspecting PC users by spendy GPS hardware, they at least aren't the nasty kind. TomTom claims the problem has been corrected, and that "Appropriate actions have been taken to make sure this is prevented from happening again in the future." They also have some instructions at the read link for removing the viruses (win32.Perlovga.A Trojan and TR/Drop.Small.qp), which mostly amount to advising you to update your virus software.

[Via Slashdot]