Lenovo Installs Malicious Adware On New Laptops, PCs

(RTTNews) - Chinese personal computers maker Lenovo Group Ltd. (LNVGY, LNVGF) has been blamed by consumer advocates for pre-installing hidden malicious adware on its new factory-fresh laptop and desktop computers.

The adware called Superfish has the potential to compromise personal data of users by monitoring secure connections. It installs its own self-signed certificate authority and creates spurious SSL certificates. Normally these certificates are issued by trusted bodies like VeriSign.

The pre-installed adware pops up third-party ads on Google searches and on websites the users open, without the user's permission like to a malware. It is mainly seen on Internet Explorer and Google Chrome browsers on the computers.

There have been consumer complaints on Lenovo consumer forums since September 2014.

Lenovo community administrator, Mark Hopkins, had reportedly confirmed in late January that it would be temporarily removing Superfish from its new consumer systems until such time as Superfish is able to provide a software build that addresses these issues.

Hopkins also said Lenovo will provide a Superfish auto-update to addresses these issues on the computers already in the market.

Hopkins added that Superfish helps users find and discover products visually and instantly analyzes images on the web and provides a list of identical and similar product offers that may have lower prices.

However, Hopkins noted that users can leave the software disabled if they refuse to agree to the terms and conditions while they are setting up their new computers.

Superfish have reportedly been coming pre-loaded on Lenovo computers since the middle of 2014.