<![CDATA[Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans.]]>Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans.

Edit: The site I downloaded from was rufus[.]ie which is apparently the official site. During installation, the software threw up a couple of rather verbose messages saying it needed to download additional components.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/a92c5118-de03-4a5e-9f50-ecabea5a8345/not-sure-who-needs-to-know-this-but-if-you-download-and-install-the-windows-version-of-rufus-the-free-software-for-writing-iso-images-to-usb-cd-rom-your-pc-will-end-up-with-about-100-trojans.RSS for NodeSat, 24 Oct 2026 14:12:11 GMTFri, 23 Oct 2026 21:02:36 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 06:22:50 GMT]]>@CenturyAvocado
@briankrebs
Does seem to be quite a lot of look alike domains in the last week, so this is my best guess on your experience

https://urlscan.io/search/#domain.keyword%3A*rufus*

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/rx13/statuses/117494446170170766https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/rx13/statuses/117494446170170766Sat, 24 Oct 2026 06:22:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 06:10:34 GMT]]>@briankrebs funny that it is possible to send the rufus installer to analysis when the rufus folks claim it has no installer.
The reality distortion field is strong here.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.opencloud.lu/users/gunstick/statuses/117494397989416667https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.opencloud.lu/users/gunstick/statuses/117494397989416667Sat, 24 Oct 2026 06:10:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 06:00:52 GMT]]>@briankrebs Yippi, I successfully infiltrated my workplace. Seriously though, sources, proofv, anything?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://someplace.social/users/jonathan859/statuses/117494359842321736https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://someplace.social/users/jonathan859/statuses/117494359842321736Sat, 24 Oct 2026 06:00:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:40:24 GMT]]>@briankrebs you know you can run software in a vm and let it access specific devices while running? I trust very few software packages...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/Ichinin/statuses/117494279371861687https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/Ichinin/statuses/117494279371861687Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:40:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:36:59 GMT]]>@briankrebs i'm sorry someone actually posted that on github issues?? Oy vey..

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://www.librepunk.club/users/penryn/statuses/117494265901054937https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://www.librepunk.club/users/penryn/statuses/117494265901054937Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:36:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:29:56 GMT]]>@rx13 @briankrebs this. I struggled to find the news article about it but yep, ad space being bought on common tools searches which show the correct website in the URL slot next to the result but take you to the non genuine page.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://know.me.uk/users/CenturyAvocado/statuses/117494238195450732https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://know.me.uk/users/CenturyAvocado/statuses/117494238195450732Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:29:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:14:03 GMT]]>@briankrebs Here’s another user who faced malware alerts while using Rufus. They were flashing Kali Linux, though, and it’s ISO file got scanned along the process.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hacking_Tutorials/comments/1t62lrs/virus_in_rufus_while_flashing_usb_for_kali/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.tchncs.de/users/cgudrian/statuses/117494175741105969https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.tchncs.de/users/cgudrian/statuses/117494175741105969Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:14:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:10:47 GMT]]>@briankrebs

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/slick/statuses/117494162897215098https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/slick/statuses/117494162897215098Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:10:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:04:13 GMT]]>@j Semantics

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/users/KoosPol/statuses/117494137079864066https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/users/KoosPol/statuses/117494137079864066Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:04:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:03:29 GMT]]>@wdormann I just read the full thread, yes the full threat, and god what an insufferable attitude from this guy. I'm convinced he'd manage to disagree with the Pope on Catholicism. @xabean @briankrebs I

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/users/KoosPol/statuses/117494134157030789https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nl/users/KoosPol/statuses/117494134157030789Sat, 24 Oct 2026 05:03:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:38:05 GMT]]>@lispi314 @briankrebs I saw WSL and thought "why not just run linux or some other *nix variant". I even learned PowerShell, and it has lots of *nix like aliases and applets. I installed a Microsoft implementation of PS for linux because I did not want to actually boot Windows on my HW to write PS scripts for a Windows target I was being paid to develop.

Still - go native.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/jab01701mid/statuses/117494034331962952https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/jab01701mid/statuses/117494034331962952Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:38:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:24:47 GMT]]>@jab01701mid@mastodon.social @briankrebs@infosec.exchange These days with WSL dd is also available on Windows.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://udongein.xyz/objects/fe532871-7727-4be0-86d6-dfeb8647a4b7https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://udongein.xyz/objects/fe532871-7727-4be0-86d6-dfeb8647a4b7Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:24:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:12:42 GMT]]>@trebach

The main usage for Rufus in my mind is to image an iso of linux to a key - and then blow all those nasty microsoft malwares to smithereens! 🙂

@briankrebs

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://friendface.kalum.ca/users/gemlog/statuses/01M5P1RRY4NJAHGXZ1CKF87PQFhttps://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://friendface.kalum.ca/users/gemlog/statuses/01M5P1RRY4NJAHGXZ1CKF87PQFSat, 24 Oct 2026 04:12:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:04:04 GMT]]>@briankrebs please be more specific, you're coming off like a rambling tech illiterate that complains that the PC is broken, and it turns out there is no internet connection. Did you check the checkum of the installer/exe? What ISO did you attempt to write? Can you name one single instance of malware included in the infection?]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://club.shish.org/objects/e261c240-d528-4f62-91af-acf1f32dd53fhttps://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://club.shish.org/objects/e261c240-d528-4f62-91af-acf1f32dd53fSat, 24 Oct 2026 04:04:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:02:53 GMT]]>@briankrebs

Ha ha ha hah: you’re still using Windows. 🤪🤭

I recommend you self boost this one a bunch! LOL! 🤣

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/chessert/statuses/117493895891385449https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/chessert/statuses/117493895891385449Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:02:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:55:09 GMT]]>@briankrebs
I think it's worth noting, a long history of actors buying ad-space at the top of search engines.

The url in the ad appears legitimate (it's visually the legitimate URL), but when clicked goes to a different url. I'm not positive that's the case here, but it's been done 100s of times for 100s of other tools (AI tool installers, chrome installs, etc), and there is zero visual indication it's an ad directing to the wrong domain.

Thanks to LLMs, the landing pages have also gotten much better at copying the real pages too.

Making it more difficult, is that ads don't always present themselves, so seeing it a 2nd time may take 100s of visits

Or maybe it really was a compromised rufus domain🤷

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/rx13/statuses/117493865494832089https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/rx13/statuses/117493865494832089Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:55:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:48:19 GMT]]>@briankrebs Rufus doesn't have an installer though. That's the thing. One simply doesn't install Rufus.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.ekis.me/ap/users/116940734677735151/statuses/117493838634681120https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.ekis.me/ap/users/116940734677735151/statuses/117493838634681120Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:48:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:41:56 GMT]]>@aetios @briankrebs @jab01701mid Why would they be unbootable?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/dalias/statuses/117493813482302007https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/dalias/statuses/117493813482302007Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:41:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:36:11 GMT]]>@briankrebs @vx_underground Possible goop sighting?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/rossmadness/statuses/117493790908337378https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/rossmadness/statuses/117493790908337378Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:36:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:28:55 GMT]]>@briankrebs

windoze malware: "quick. we gotta infect this machine while we have the chance. once it's running linux, we're out of another home..."

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/paul_ipv6/statuses/117493762322142203https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/paul_ipv6/statuses/117493762322142203Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:28:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:19:26 GMT]]>@xabean @briankrebs
I remember reporting a vulnerability to the Rufus developer, and he was quite rude and condescending in response.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/wdormann/statuses/117493725037758827https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/wdormann/statuses/117493725037758827Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:19:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:12:58 GMT]]>@briankrebs There are some rather ... possessive communities around USB boot image builders, I forget if it was rufus or ventoy or what, but long story short: if you badmouth the product, the sealions. Dear god, the sealions.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/xabean/statuses/117493699611404504https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/xabean/statuses/117493699611404504Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:12:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:09:01 GMT]]>I've been made aware of a post from someone representing Rufus who says I'm very confused about this post. I've reported that Windows Defender went bananas after I installed Rufus on a Windows 11 device. It immediately popped up warnings about hacktools and trojans being installed while it was installing. I wish I had a record of it but I nuked everything after the alerts.

https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/issues/3064

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/briankrebs/statuses/117493684060590150https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/briankrebs/statuses/117493684060590150Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:09:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Not sure who needs to know this, but if you download and install the Windows version of Rufus, the free software for writing ISO images to USB/CD-ROM, your PC will end up with about 100 trojans. on Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:06:56 GMT]]>@stevenally @RedOct @briankrebs

dd (easy if you already have a linux), if not, wsl or mingw

params are: if=inputPath of=outputPath status=progress (the last only needed if you want to see how long its gonna take)

"if" is the path to the iso
and "of" should be the device path not the partition mount point
and unmount all partitions before

Edit:
but yeah as a newcomer to linux just use etcher, just for the first time, if your stuck on win probably easier than learning the difference between mount point and device paths.
one time does not make a big difference that's more of a pro tip i guess. if you need to write more than one iso to a drive, or do it often.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://techhub.social/users/snornik/statuses/117493675891228316https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://techhub.social/users/snornik/statuses/117493675891228316Sat, 24 Oct 2026 03:06:56 GMT