One recent issue within the computer science field has to do with the company, Lenovo. It has been reported recently that Lenovo has been selling computers installed with software called
Superfish.
You may ask, why is this an issue? What was the purpose of them doing that? Well, I'll tell you! Superfish is an advertising software. Simply put, Lenovo was putting it on their laptops so that they could better advertise. This software works by intercepting communication between the computer and encrypted websites. Where Lenovo went wrong, besides putting the software on the computers in the first place, is they chose a single password to access these communications. This password was cracked within hours and a lot of sensitive information was potentially accessible. Another negative side effect of this is that if somebody knew the password they could put whatever they want in your browser, similar to how the advertising software would put advertisements in your browser.
This is clearly a negative impact on anybody who uses a computer. Although this is only found in Lenovo laptops, it shows that you can never really be too cautious. As consumers we should be able to expect that we won't have malicious software installed on newly purchased products.
If you own a Lenovo laptop and are concerned you may have the Superfish software installed, there is a
website that will check if you have Superfish or other SSL-disabling products on your computer.
My first reaction to this article was shock. This is very scary because I own a Lenovo laptop that I got February of 2014. The website you provided did not work for my laptop for some reason, but I was able to go on their website and they provided a manual instruction on how to remove the Superfish software from your laptop. My laptop did indeed have Superfish on it. I have had this laptop for over a year now and had no clue such a thing was even installed on my laptop. This is exactly why this is ethically wrong. It would be different if Lenovo had the software on laptops and made consumers aware that such software came with their laptop. In that case the owner of the laptop would have the choice to keep the software or uninstall it. This is also unethical because this software, as you stated in your article can be hacked easily and a lot of sensitive information can be stolen. The owner of the laptop would not know because the company did not notify them that this software was on their laptop in the first place. I like Lenovo products, but I will not be getting another laptop from them anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteThis post got my attention, specifically because I am using my Lenovo laptop to read this article! I bought my laptop in October of 2014 from the Lenovo website. I decided on a Lenovo for a number of reasons including, cost, function ability, durability, and many good reviews from people who own Lenovo products. From the research I did before buying this laptop, I concluded that Lenovo was the best brand considering my price range and the specs I wanted from my laptop. Had I known about Superfish software it would have affected my decision. I don't know that I would have chosen another laptop because you can remove the program and not have a problem. I will also still buy Lenovo products in the future because I am greatly impressed with my Lenovo, but I will be more careful to check into all of the preloaded software.
ReplyDeleteYour post about Lenovo computers is very intriguing. I never knew that Lenovo put this “super fish” on their computer and made everyone’s personal information at risk so easily. I really like how you explain why this is an issue because many people, especially me, don’t really understand what that means and why that could be so dangerous. Also I really like how you touch on how it can be hacked so easily. I think it is just unbelievable that they can use such a system on their laptops in the first place without the user even knowing but what is manly the problem is they made it with a one-word password. Obviously that won’t stand up to the hackers nowadays and just is so crazy how information can be so vulnerable to so many people so quickly. Also was very nice that you offer help at the end of the blog for whoever needs it and gives people a place to go right away so they don’t have to search around which is very useful. How you made super fish a hyperlink was very nice also because whoever doesn’t have knowledge about it can easily use the hyperlink and learn exactly what “super fish” is.
ReplyDeleteWow am i glad i dont own a lenovo computer, but this issue with them installing unwanted software for their benefit leads me to think that what if theyre not the only ones. Its kind of scary to think that there could be similar situations with other companies that we may not know about yet. The internet is a wonderful tool to use but at the same time it can become an extremely dangerous tool to use. I know recently ive been trying to watch what i put out on the internet because you never know who may get access to that information. What worries me is that it seems no matter what steps the government takes to crack down on hacking, hackers always are one step ahead of them. When it comes time for me to purchase a new laptop, Ill definitely pay more attention to what comes preloaded on it as well as research the models im interested in to better my understanding of the preexisting problems there may be.
ReplyDeleteI am extremely glad that i read this article because i am looking to buy a new laptop in the new future and i was not sure what brad to buy. This article definitely crossed one type of my list. Lenovo is not a brand i was very familiar with and i haven't heard much about it but your article told me everything i need to know. I know in today's world that everything is becoming advertisement, but to sell computers with already pre installed advertisement is a bit ridiculous. The "super fish" that you discuss is also something i have never heard of but i don't understand by Lenovo would take this risk in the first place. They must know that if something goes wrong on the computer even if Lenovo wasn't at fault they still must take the blame because they took the risk of letting someone else put something on their product. I ma sure that Lenovo has seen a decrease in sales because things like this spread like wildfire. It can almost be considered a virus and i am sure that everyone hears about one new scam or virus that is around every week. With this negative advertisement "super fish" it cannot being anything good for Lenovo it could potentially destroy their company all together. With all that being said i thought this article was extremely useful information especially in the situation i am in. It is very informative and reminds me to look into things deeper than the surface before i commit to something so expensive.
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