4) Sony Rootkit

4) Sony rootkit

A mountain of criticism and lawsuits were heaped on Sony BMG after it was discovered the company loaded copy-protection software, known as a rootkit, onto about 100 CD titles.

When the CDs were loaded into a PC, the software was covertly launched and created vulnerabilities that could be exploited by computer worms and viruses. Within weeks of the October 2005 rootkit discovery, several Trojans and worms were written to take advantage of the software-created openings.

Sony BMG recalled the CDs and later settled lawsuits filed against it by the states of Texas, New York, and California. To many techies, rootkit was proof some of the major labels would stop at nothing to fight file sharing.