HP USB sticks come pre-loaded with malware.

A batch of USB sticks released by HP contains the W32.Fakerecy and W32.SillyFDC worms. These worms duplicated themselves to any drives they can get access to, spreading like an annoying cold.

HP issued a security alert with AusCERT after discovering the worms on the USB drives. A listed of servers affected by the worms was also released. HP actually recommends inserting the infected USB stick into a computer with up-to-date antivirus software. This seems kind of risky, but that’s the only way you’ll remove the malware without destroying the device itself.

“This is probably not going to escalate into a widepread epidemic,” Nishad Herath, senior research scientist at McAfee Avert Labs, told ZDNet.com.au. “But I would most definitely urge users to perform a virus scan of any media–including any new blank drives–you receive from vendors prior to installing/using them as slip-ups like this have been known to happen in the past.”