Rivals respond to Big W FUFIFILM kiosk virus report

Kodak and Sony have been quick to inform their retail customers that their respective photo kiosks and printers are “virus free”.

Representatives of both suppliers contacted PIN Online in the wake of Woolworths’ confirmation that a "small number" of self-serve FUJIFILM photo kiosks in its Big W stores have been exposed to malware (malicious software).

A spokesperson for Kodak told PIN Online that the company “is vigilant and proactive in the measures we take to protect our customers and our systems.”

“Kodak Picture Kiosks use proprietary Kodak-created software around the world on its kiosks and they do not write to memory cards or USBs,” she said. 

“To date, we have not had a single report of malware-related issues with a Kodak Picture Kiosk,” she added.

Australian Photographic Engineering’s John Ackfield told PIN Online: “In our capacity as preferred distributor of the Sony Snap lab photo kiosk I can affirm that as the Sony uses an in-house operating system it cannot be infected by common viruses. 

“This is good news in the fight against the hackers and good news for the clients who have purchased the Sony Snap Lab,” he said.

FUJIFILM rolling out ‘read only’ USB ports

A spokesperson for FUJIFILM told PIN Online that FUJIFILM is in the process of rolling out a ‘read-only’ capability for the USB port which is available to complement all retailers’ existing virus strategy.

“FUJIFILM takes any issue concerning its customers very seriously and is always keen to work with them to resolve a problem,” she said.

“As a result, FUJIFILM is now liaising closely with BIG W and is currently testing a solution in-store.”

Last week, security industry website Risky.biz reported that a customer's USB key had been infected, attributing the infection to Big W's photo kiosks.

ZDNet Australia followed up with a report that found the customer, Queensland IT professional Morgan Storey, confirmed that his USB key was infected after his wife visited Big W's Mount Gravatt store to print photographs using one of the photo kiosks.

Storey said that he received the USB key back from his wife last Tuesday, only to discover it had been infected with a virus.

Woolworths said in a statement that there was a "very low risk" of viruses spreading via its photo kiosks, but it was now "working closely" with FUJIFILM to test and roll out appropriate antivirus software.

Big W has around 1800 FUJIFILM photo kiosks nationally."We are already testing antivirus software in several stores and will begin rolling this out nationally in the coming months," the company said.