Supply Chain Insecurity: Dell Ships Server Motherboards Infected With Malware
A forum at Dell’s website has described that replacement R410 server motherboards that are infected with malware/spyware have been shipped by the company to customers.
Apparently the systems management firmware has been compromised in the manufacturing supply chain, and has been infected with malicious software. Dell is calling customers to warn them of the malware infections, and giving them instructions on how to scan the flash memory to detect and remove the spyware.
It’s another example in the growing set of supply chain vulnerabilities that are starting to emerge in the IT industry. Vendors of IT infrastructure must realize that attackers are eager to infect their products, and are even doing so inside the supply chain itself.