AntiVirus Alerts Triggered
by Wouxun Company Software
This notice is for amateur radio operators interested in the antivirus alerts triggered by free software from the Wouxun Company for programming Wouxun VHF/UHF transceivers. With the built-in voice synthesizer these radios are a popular choice of blind and vision-impaired hams. Several postings on the Yahoo Wouxun_KG-UVD1 Users Group have reported that this software causes antivirus alerts.
Downloading the programming software from either www.wouxun.com or wouxun.us also triggered alerts on my test PC as shown in the Figure.
Figure. McAfee SiteAdvisor Alert
When VirusTotal tested Version 1.15 of the software using 41 different antivirus programs, 13 scans were positive for malware. Wouxun has not responded to my request for information.
It is possible that all 13 scans are false positives. Here is an example of how that might occur: The Wikipedia article Executable Compression reports that after compression with a "runtime packer" a file may be falsely labeled a virus by some antivirus scanners. This occurs because packers are also often used by malware authors to disguise malicious code.
Another example: W7EL reports false positive scans of his popular antenna modeling code by antivirus programs that use "heuristic" methods.
However, antivirus scans are the only information we currently have about the safety of using the Wouxun programming software. It is not unusual for web site owners and users to be unaware of infected files because malware is designed to be stealthy.
Update: On 8/31/2010, seven out of 43 scans of
KG-UVD1Pv1.16.exe by VirusTotal are positive.
Update: On 11/16/2010, six out of 43 scans of
KG-UVD1Pv2.0.exe by VirusTotal are positive.
Update: On 4/24/2011, eight out of 41 scans of
KG-UVD1Pv2.0.exe by VirusTotal are positive.
Update: On 6/26/2011, two out of 42 scans of
KG-UVD1Pv2.11.exe by VirusTotal are positive.
Conclusions
1. A file is not necessarily safe because it came from a company or an honest distributor. Hackers infect legitimate web sites as a way to attack personal computers.
2. False positive scans are a well-known problem with antivirus programs.
3. The risk of infection is probably low, because the VirusTotal scans using respected antivirus scanners from Kaspersky, Microsoft, and Symantec are all negative.
4. Two free alternatives to Wouxun Company software have VirusTotal scans that are all negative: KG-UV Commander has the same functions as the Wouxun program. Chirp channel editing software supports radios from multiple manufacturers, including Wouxun.
Author Information
Peter DeNeef, AE7PD, is an Extra Class amateur radio operator in the U.S. This web site does not have any ads or conflicts of interest.
Email: hamradioandvision "at" gmail "dot" com.
rev. 11/5/2011
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KG-UV Commander
Chirp Channel Editing Software