You're Using That Photo Booth With Everyone Else Who's Used That Photo Booth!

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://lifehacker.com/5580329/use-read+only-media-to-protect-against-kiosk-propagated-viruses' target='_blank'>http://lifehacker.com/5580329/use-r...pagated-viruses</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"It could be debated whether or not the virus Morgan's flash drive picked up came from that particular photo kiosk but the people in charge of the kiosk acknowledge that the kiosks have no virus protection. All it would take for each kiosk to become a virus propagating machine then&mdash;with access to thousands of USB drives, memory sticks, and SD cards a month!&mdash;is exposure to one infected flash drive."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1278430670.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>The world is a dangerous place; you never know where you might pick up a virus.&nbsp; To be honest, as careful as I sometimes am, I would probably not think that a photo booth kiosk as a place where I would be careful.&nbsp; I admit to having never used one as any photos I must print, I do so at home, but I see dozens of people using the kiosks all the time.&nbsp; Most people probably feel safe when surfing on a coffee shop's internet connection too.&nbsp; It just goes to show that you cannot be too careful when you expose yourself (or rather, your technology) to the public.&nbsp; But would one really want to live their whole life being paranoid of everything around them?</p>

[Jason Dunn]

Wow...that's pretty interesting! I'd have never have thought of that. I've used a photo kiosk exactly one time in my life - printing up some photos for my grandma off the xD memory card in her Olympus camera. If you're using SD cards, putting them in read-only mode should do the trick, right? Won't help for USB flash drives of course...

[leslietroyer]

I usually upload to Costco so my snaps are there and done (no second trip), but I religiously slip the chip to read-only, more so the machine doesn't accidentally erase the photos, than for virus control. I've seen viruses pop up in really strange equipment, that one would NEVER associate with a PC, or PC-controlled.

[Hooch Tan]

If you're using SD cards, putting them in read-only mode should do the trick, right? Won't help for USB flash drives of course...

That's the advice that's being floated around. As long as it is read only media such as SD that's in read-only or a CD or DVD, you should be safe. I think I recall some USB flash drives having a similar switch, but most, of them do not. While it may not be a vector of infection that can propogate quickly, it does seem to be an effective one. It is quite amazing just how many devices we interact with use something like Windows, likely the embedded version. I am surprised that most companies wouldn't go the Linux route as I'm sure that would save costs in licensing.