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from the "because-the-updates-might-not-work" dept.
Security researcher Patrick Barker has caught Samsung deliberately disabling Windows Update on Samsung PCs in favor of its own bloatware service:
The problem was spotted by independent security researcher Patrick Barker after a Windows user complained that the Windows Update function, which automatically downloads patches and security fixes from Microsoft, was being randomly disabled.
The culprit turned out to be a piece of code called SWUpdate, which Samsung bundles on its machines to handle driver updates for its hardware. SWUpdate, in turn, runs an executable called Disable_Windowsupdate.exe as part of its standard operations. Guess what that does.
At first, the researchers were concerned that the software might be malware, although it did appear to be signed by Samsung itself. A call to Samsung technical support yielded the following response:
When you enable Windows updates, it will install the Default Drivers for all the hardware [on the] laptop which may or may not work. For example if there is USB 3.0 on laptop, the ports may not work with the installation of updates. So to prevent this, SW Update tool will prevent the Windows updates.
Samsung has not replied to The Reg's request for comment but a Microsoft spokesperson emailed us the following statement:
Windows Update remains a critical component of our security commitment to our customers. We do not recommend disabling or modifying Windows Update in any way as this could expose a customer to increased security risks. We are in contact with Samsung to address this issue.
Original Submission and Original Submission
(Score: 3, Informative) by schad on Friday June 26 2015, @01:08PM
I don't know why you'd think that. On all popular operating systems, drivers run as part of the kernel and are therefore free to shit all over whatever they want. Even in an unpopular OS like HURD, a hardware driver will still have the ability to hose your system. If the driver malfunctions in such a way as to put the hardware in an "impossible" state -- or if the driver merely exposes some hardware error -- then the only fix is going to be a hard reboot or possibly a power cycle (the two are not quite the same). Doesn't matter what protection level your driver runs at, if it's got access to the hardware it can fuck up your shit.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Saturday June 27 2015, @07:05PM
Because its fucking USB man they should have this shit figured out by now! I don't know what kind of Voodoo they cooked up with USB 3 but USB 2 wasn't anywhere near as flaky, in fact I can't remember a single BSOD caused by a USB 2 driver!
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.