transcend.com? - FineTunedMac

I have a USB 3 card reader made by transcend. I downloaded a firmware app for it but it is not signed by Apple. I opened it and started to install it via a .pkg file, but it requires a restart. Not knowing anything about this company, I cancelled the installation.

Is this a reliable company? Any comments? I used the card reader to import photos from a CF card and it worked very well. I don't know if a firmware update is required so I'm asking about the safety of its software.

EDIT: I should have linked to the specific card reader. This is it.

You might learn something by examining the .pkg with Pacifist.

Nice idea, but the stuff that Pacifist revealed doesn't mean anything to me. I don't know what to look for.

Maybe post a screenshot?

From where'd you d/l it?

I downloaded it here. I don't know how to post a screenshot since I don't have any accounts to upload it to.

I opened it in Pacifist and saw nothing that meant particularly anything to me, but it looks to me (from their website) like you've got to install the "Driver/Firmware" in order for the software to work.

For future reference:

1. Upload your screenshot to FreeImageHosting.net.

2. FIH will return a long URL that will look like this: <a href="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/commercial-photography/texas/houston/"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/U4bjF9h.png" alt="Houston commercial photography"></a>

3. From that URL, extract and post only the blue portion. (Leave out the quotes.)

4. Post your link by utilizing the "Create a link to a webpage" icon...second from the left, above.

Thanks, Artie. I printed your instructions. I also contacted Transcend's tech support about this issue, asking specifically if the firmware update is necessary in view of the fact that the card reader works perfectly. I'll post back when I get an answer.

Transcend's response:

"If the reader is working perfectly with your computer and CF card then a firmware update is not required."

Thanks for posting that strange response, Jon. (They don't seem to be particularly together about their product.)

Originally Posted By: jchuzi

I downloaded it here.

That link goes to transcend-info.com. You can do a whois lookup in many places online. Here's part of the record:

Code:

Domain Name: TRANSCEND-INFO.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1630265877_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois-generic.marcaria.com
Registrar URL: www.marcaria.com
Updated Date: 2015-11-09T15:28:50Z
Creation Date: 2010-12-14T16:01:54Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2024-12-14T16:01:54Z
Registrar: Marcaria.com International, Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 1086
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: 
Registrant Name: Julie Liu
Registrant Organization: Transcend Information, Inc.
Registrant Street: 70, XingZhong Rd., NeiHu Dist., Taipei, Taiwan, R. O. C. 
Registrant City: Taipei
Registrant State/Province: Taiwan
Registrant Postal Code: 114
Registrant Country: TW
Registrant Phone: +886.227928000
Registrant Phone Ext: 
Registrant Fax: +886.227968017
Registrant Fax Ext: 
Registrant Email: julie_liu@transcend-info.com
Registry Admin ID: 
Admin Name: Julie Liu
Admin Organization: Transcend Information, Inc.
Admin Street: 70, XingZhong Rd., NeiHu Dist., Taipei, Taiwan, R. O. C. 
Admin City: Taipei
Admin State/Province: Taiwan
Admin Postal Code: 114
Admin Country: TW
Admin Phone: +886.227928000
Admin Phone Ext: 
Admin Fax: +886.227968017
Admin Fax Ext: 
Admin Email: julie_liu@transcend-info.com

So it looks pretty legit to me. Remember that just because it's not signed doesn't mean it's unsafe. (and occasionally the exact opposite is also true)

Most of the malware download links I see (and I do tend to at least slightly investigate them all) tend to be stored on hacked web servers. (many of them, unsurprisingly, being wordpress)

So on the other hand you might have seen a URL more like this:

http://flowershop.berlin.de/wordpress/uploads/9823jd76mnd/transcend.html

ok, that is almost certainly malware of some sort or other - virus, phish, nothing good.

But once you go down the road of following up on things like this you have to pay attention to what you're doing. For example, the link may appear like "http://www.transcend.com/downloads/usbdriverpkg.zip", but that's just arbitrary text. It could say "click here to download", but it HAPPENS to look like a url. So you could click on that and find yourself at the flower shop in germany. Don't blindly click on links that appear safe by their description alone. Ctrl-click, and Copy Link. Open a new browser window, and paste it into the address bar and LOOK at it before hitting Enter. Remember that domain name prefixes and anything in the path are arbitrary and can be customized to look more authentic. They WILL do this from time to time, and it should set off just as many alarms in your head:

http://www.transcend.com.berlin.de/drivers/transcend.html

(in the above example, only ".berlin.de" is a reliable indicator of where you are going)

Thanks, V1. Your post is very informative and timely. I was put off when the software required a restart because I don't know if that would affect any system files (although the OS should protect against that contingency). At any rate, I'm not going to bother updating the device's firmware. If it ain't broke...

Apple is pretty good with System software that can interface with drives, readers, etc. that don't require third-party proprietary software. A corollary to "if it ain't brokeâ€¦" is "let sleeping dogs lie".

[Hmm, maybe the animal metaphor doesn't work here? :P]