Had a weird thing happen at a client's office that made me change my whole setup process

I was at a small law firm in Springfield finishing a new workstation install. I had the PC built, Windows loaded, and was about to start my usual checklist of updates and software installs. The office manager walked by and asked if she could start moving her files over from her old machine while I worked. I said sure, thinking it would save time. Big mistake. Her old computer had a hidden rootkit that my antivirus hadn't caught yet because the definitions weren't updated. It jumped to the brand new machine through the network transfer before I could even run a scan. Took me two extra hours to clean both systems. Now I never let a client touch a new setup until I've done a full offline scan of the old device and updated the new one completely. What's your rule for keeping new installs safe during data transfers?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliot_lane964d ago

Man that's rough, reminds me of a buddy who had a similar mess. He was setting up a new laptop for a family member and let them plug in their old phone to grab photos before he'd run any checks. Turns out the phone was loaded with junkware that spread to the new laptop through the file transfer app. He spent the whole night cleaning it up instead of just an hour. So you're totally right to scan the old device first, offline. Do you think a separate transfer cable is safer than using the network?

rowanellis3d ago

Sounds like a horror movie plot...