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| DATE | 2015-02-26 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Lenovo Superfish
|
http://www.cnet.com/news/lenovo-hit-by-lawsuit-over-superfish-adware/
http://www.cnet.com/news/lenovo-hit-by-lawsuit-over-superfish-adware/
Lenovo may find itself in a courtroom over its Superfish adware fiasco.
One lawsuit filed in federal court last week charges both Lenovo and
Superfish with violating wiretap laws and trespassing on personal
property, Ars Technica reported Monday. In another case, a legal firm
has launched a class action investigation over potential claims against
Lenovo's actions.
The Chinese PC maker has found itself in hot water following last week's
revelations that many of its PCs include a software program called
Superfish Visual Discovery. Considered either adware or spyware,
Superfish tracks your Web searches and browsing activity to place
additional ads on the sites you visit. But the software also installs
its own root certificate that leaves affected PCs more vulnerable to
malware attacks.
Lenovo has apologized for the problem and has begun work to resolve it.
"We messed up badly," said Peter Hortensius, Lenovo's chief technology
officer, said last week.
The world's biggest computer maker, Lenovo has managed to earn a hefty
profit and significant presence in the sluggish PC market. The company's
laptop lineup has garnered generally good reviews. But the fact that
Lenovo installed such software on its PCs could do a fair amount of
damage to both its reputation and sales. Legal defense could also cost
the company.
The individual suit filed February 19 in U.S. District Court in the
Southern District of California by blogger Jessica Bennett charges that
the Superfish software tracked her Internet use, invaded her privacy and
damaged her computer. Specifically, Bennett said that she was writing a
blog post on her PC when she noticed ads involving "scantily clad women"
on her client's website. Later, Bennett said, she was working on a
different client site when she saw the same set of ads, making her
realize that it was her own computer that was infected by some type of
spyware.
Her lawsuit, which seeks a class action status and jury trial, charges
Lenovo with the following:
Defendants' Spyware and popup advertisements decrease productivity
by requiring that hours be spent figuring out how to get them off of a
computer, closing advertising windows, and waiting for a slower machine
to operate. Furthermore, computer users are forced to keep their
computers running longer (due to the slowed performance) which utilizes
more electricity, decreases the useful life of a computer, and causes
increased Internet access charges. The cumulative impact of not only
multiple ads, but also the threat of future ads and monitoring, impedes
computer usage.
Meanwhile, the class action investigation launched by the New York-based
Rosen Law Firm is looking for consumers who purchased the affected
Lenovo PCs and want to participate in a class action lawsuit. The firm
charges that the Superfish adware "exposes the computer user to serious
security vulnerabilities that could result in the theft of users' login
and passwords, and other sensitive data that a user transmits online, as
well as a degraded internet experience caused by it downloading and
injecting third party ads and pop-up windows."
Lenovo PC owners can determine if the Superfish software is installed on
their machines and then remove it by following the steps in this CNET
article. Lenovo has also published its own instructions on finding and
removing the software.
A Lenovo spokesperson told CNET on Tuesday that the company does not
comment on litigation.
Tags:
Security
Computers
Lenovo
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Journalist, software trainer, and Web developer Lance Whitney writes
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