The new Barnes & Noble Nooks come with free malware
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Barnes & Noble began outsourcing its Nook e-readers a few years ago after a partnership with Samsung and their latest $50 Nook 7 android tablet, announced last month, shows us how that has worked out for them. Their latest e-reader includes ADUPS, a firmware that sends user data back to the manufacturer or an interested hacker. This is the same malware that researchers found on cheap Blu tablets and phones last month.
The manufacturer claims to have patched the malware in current products but it seems the new B&N Nooks are still running the old software. ADUPS allows for full data access on the device and command and control privileges including remote software installation and automatic updates without use permission.
How bad is it?
The Digital Reader is recommending that users return their Nooks and notes that B&N has a holiday return policy that lets you send items back until January 31.
UPDATE – B&N Writes:
Finally, we are working on a software update to remove ADUPS completely from the NOOK Tablet 7”. That update will be made available to download within the next few weeks, but in the meantime customers can rest assured that the device is safe to use.
Fred Argir, Chief Digital Officer