Chinese based computer technology firm Lenovo dropped the ball. It promoted software that was meant for good, but turned out to be anything but. This is Lenovo’s security fail.
The software was called Superfish. It was on laptops and PC’s sold between September 2014 and January 2015. Off the bat, Superfish got bad reviews. But earlier this week, the situation went from bad to worse. A password was discovered that would allow anybody access to the computer’s certificate authority, even if it means bypassing encryption. And as sophisticated as hackers are today, they can easily infiltrate that Lenovo computer to spy on the user or flood their system with malware. This could lead to identity theft, sextortion, revenge porn, cyber bullying, and other cyber crimes and indecencies. Lenovo has come up with software to help you uninstall Superfish and test your machine to see if you have this potential threat. Superfish is such a widespread concern that even the US Department of Homeland Security is urging customers to test and rid their machines of Superfish.
I’m glad they caught this potential threat when they did. I haven’t heard of anybody being hacked severely by Superfish. Let’s hope it stays that way before we read yet another report of a major hacking. Lenovo is working with Microsoft and other technological giants to combat this threat. So if you think you’re venerable, don’t procrastinate. Get it off your system immediately. Don’t wait until you’re the next victim. But what can be done to prevent Superfishes of the future?