One of the world’s largest PC manufacturer Lenovo Group is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Cyber-security experts are reporting that the Chinese manufacturer had pre-installed a virus laden software on its laptops that apparently makes its devices prone to hacking,
Users back in June reported of a pre-installed programme called Superfish that was an adware.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”Robert Graham” author_title=”CEO of U.S.-based Security Research Firm Errata Security”]
Superfish was malicious software that hijacks and throws open encrypted connections, paving the way for hackers to also commandeer these connections and eavesdrop, in what is known as a man-in-the-middle attack.
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Meanwhile, Lenovo officials in January said on a web forum that Superfish has been temporarily been removed from consumer computers. The officials though did refrain from making any official comments during the Lunar New Year holiday in China.
Security experts believe that Lenovo has been negligent, and these computers are still vulnerable even after uninstalling Superfish. The software gives itself total control to take over connections and declare them as trusted and secure, even when they are not secure. If the allegations are substantiated, it will be a major blot on the companies brand identity and may affect future sales.
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