Seagate production hit by Hard Drive Virus.

Hard drive maker Seagate have removed from distribution some 1,800 500GB Maxtor Basics hard drives containing two Trojan horse viruses, according to the Taipei Times.

The hard drives were sent to retailers from a factory in Thailand, of which 300 were sold before the problem came to light.

The Trojans are designed to gather passwords from the drive after it has been installed on a PC and deliver it to a pair of websites in China.

The Trojans focus on game data and attempt to collect passwords for "World of Warcraft" and other popular titles.

The Taipei Times also wrote that there had been a suggestion from the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice that the viruses were planted by the Chinese authorities, although nothing has been confirmed.

The unsold drives have all been removed from distribution and Seagate has issued guidance to affected customers.

---