MESSAGE
| DATE | 2015-03-01 |
| FROM | Paul Robert Marino
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Lenovo Superfish
|
Hey every one bad news about this.
Any one on my Facebook feed would have noticed this on day1 of the story.
I did some research and SuperFish is a 3rd party company which has
contracts with several Android and IPhone app developers.
there have been several unconfirmed reports on non-Lenovo Android
devices failing on the test pages, in other words they were infected
too.
On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 2:02 PM, Ruben wrote:
>
>
> yeah, the spare one. I actually have 2 extras now ;)
>
> On 02/26/2015 01:59 PM, Robert Menes wrote:
>>
>> Which laptop is that? Is that the spare one you have? Because I could
>> help you identify the video chipset and see if maybe you might need a
>> module for it.
>>
>> If you come to the workshop on Tuesday, I can help you with it.
>>
>> --Robert
>>
>> On Feb 26, 2015 1:38 PM, "Ruben" >> > wrote:
>>
>>
>> I have one half finished Levono laptop that I was installing at the
>> hack meeting at CCNY. It is not coming up with X11 on Manjaro with
>> openrc so I have some work cut out for myself
>>
>>
>> Want to see the practice questions of my Allgorithms midterm.
>>
>>
>> Ruben
>>
>> On 02/26/2015 12:33 PM, Robert Menes wrote:
>>
>> Putting it as simply as possible:
>>
>> This is why I never, ever run the preinstalled OS on any computer.
>> I
>> just wipe and install a F/OSS operating system, or if need be, a
>> non-OEM
>> edition of the OS.
>>
>> A lot of the preinstalled components are completely worthless,
>> anyway.
>>
>> --Robert
>>
>> On Feb 26, 2015 12:22 PM, "Ruben Safir" >>
>> >> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> 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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