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    Lenovo Accused Of Using ‘Rootkit-Like’ Methods To Sneak Software Onto Clean Windows Installs

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    lenovo security malware uefi firmware rootkit
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    • J
      JaredBusch
      last edited by scottalanmiller

      Lenovo is at it again...

      http://hothardware.com/news/lenovo-accused-of-using-rootkit-to-sneak-its-software-onto-clean-windows-installs

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      • S
        scottalanmiller
        last edited by

        Some mention of it in this thread about Lenovo's new laptops:
        http://mangolassi.it/topic/5720/lenovo-ushers-in-a-new-era-of-mobile-workstation-power-and-performance-with-lenovo-thinkpad-p50-and-p70

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        • S
          scottalanmiller
          last edited by

          It is pretty clear now that this is standard behaviour at Lenovo. It's not even been a year since they were caught hijacking network data from customer devices and they are so brazen and think so little of their customers that they feel that they essentially do a firmware level malware deployment system and get away with it! In their defense, I suppose that anyone buying Lenovo gear still after the Superfish episode will let them do anything and doesn't care if they are compromised. If Superfish didn't convince people to be terrified of Lenovo, this certainly is not going to.

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          • S
            scottalanmiller
            last edited by

            A few threads going on about this elsewhere as well: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/1122492-lenovo-installing-software-on-boot

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            • S
              scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/1121374-lenovo-laptops-now-come-with-a-free-rootkit

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              • N
                nadnerB
                last edited by

                Sigh
                They clearly are never going to learn.

                S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  scottalanmiller @nadnerB
                  last edited by

                  @nadnerB said:

                  Sigh
                  They clearly are never going to learn.

                  They never will unless their customers (or former customers) make them learn.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • N
                    nadnerB
                    last edited by

                    More coverage:

                    • http://www.itnews.com.au/News/407868,lenovo-rootkit-loaded-bloatware-onto-clean-windows-installs.aspx?eid=3&edate=20150813&utm_source=20150813_PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter
                    • http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2013
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                    • S
                      scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      Hopefully we will get lucky and there will be enough exposure (and memory) now that two of the biggest technology integrity blunders have come from the same vendor so close together that maybe this one will not be forgotten and swept under the rug as quickly as Superfish was.

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                      • N
                        nadnerB
                        last edited by

                        Aaaaaannnndddd they're back in the news:
                        http://www.computerworld.com/article/2984889/windows-pcs/lenovo-collects-usage-data-on-thinkpad-thinkcentre-and-thinkstation-pcs.html

                        J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                        • J
                          JaredBusch @nadnerB
                          last edited by JaredBusch

                          @nadnerB said:

                          Aaaaaannnndddd they're back in the news:
                          http://www.computerworld.com/article/2984889/windows-pcs/lenovo-collects-usage-data-on-thinkpad-thinkcentre-and-thinkstation-pcs.html

                          I like this summary at the end of that article.. Sums it up well. We pretty much expect this behavior from everyone. But Lenovo already shot themselves on this.

                          Had this been any other PC vendor, this might be a triviality. Certainly Microsoft is doing far more tracking in Windows 10.
                          But trust is the price Lenovo pays for their previous behavior. Those of that recall the company's initial reaction to Superfish, dismissing it out of hand, have a hard time trusting them again.

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                          • D
                            Dashrender
                            last edited by

                            Yeah I was wondering how he was going to handle that ALL manufacturers today are pretty much guaranteed to be doing some sort of tracking. Granted that tracking is so they can make the product better.

                            The author also didn't mention if they did a fresh install of Windows when they received the machine - to me that was his first downfall, but the fact that Lenovo has already shot itself in the foot, this doesn't help.

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