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This treatment of customers was also reported by WFXT in Boston. With the Boston case, there
was also the same false positive report by the Office Depot staff members.

Sample

In following the scientific method of research, KIRO staff members purchased six new
computers. These were unboxed and brought to the Office Depot for a PC Health Check.

After asking a few questions and scanning the computer, the “customer” was told by the Home
Depot tech, in four of the six systems, their computer showed “symptoms of malware”. The tech
diligently attempted to sell the “customer” the services to fix the computer, costing from $149 to
$199.

To validate the brand new, directly out of the box computers did not actually have malware, the
systems were brought to an InfoSec firm, IOActive. The report from the actual SMEs was the
systems did not need any repair services.

Per the KIRO news story, the workers were told to sell the programs and were following
corporate directives. The statistics for sales were posted in the breakroom and it was noted the
staff without suitable levels of sales may not be needed.

Follow-Up

Office Depot apparently is investigating the issue, and has stated they do not support the
alleged actions, and will take the appropriate steps. With the corporate environment, the extent
of the investigation may vary greatly dependent on the number of variables. To ensure this is
actually investigated fully, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has requested the FTC review these
claims.

About The Author

Charles Parker, II began coding in the 1980’s. Presently CP is an Information
Security Architect at a Tier One supplier to the automobile industry. CP is
presently completing the PhD (Information Assurance and Security) with
completing the dissertation. CP’s interests include cryptography, SCADA, and
securing communication channels. He has presented at regional InfoSec
conferences.

Charles Parker, II can be reached online at [email protected] and
InfoSecPirate (Twitter).

71 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – April 2017 Edition
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