Lenovo: Is There Money in Malware?
August 13, 2015
Not for Lenovo.
Good old Lenovo, the former IBM personal computer until, seems to be hitting some rough water. I learned that the company is nuking some folks. The motivation for the cost cutting is tucked in the firm’s write up “Lenovo First Quarter FY 15-16: Tough Markets, Solid Results.” Reuters suggested that 3,200 folks are now able to find their future elsewhere.
As the proud owner of a Lenovo laptop, I wondered by I had lots of weird Lenovo software on the machine after we used the extra cost recovery discs to put a fresh version of Windows 8.1 on the limping dog.
Based on my research for my forthcoming study of the Dark Web, I knew there was big money in malware. Bad guys make money. Good guys make money. It seems that Lenovo, if the TNW News story “Lenovo Used a Hidden Windows Feature to Ensure Its Software Could Not Be Deleted” is correct, Lenovo drifted toward the dark side of the force.
The write up says:
The users discovered the issue in May when using a new Lenovo laptop that automatically and covertly overwrote a system file on every boot, which downloaded a Lenovo updater and installed software automatically, even if Windows was reinstalled from a DVD. The only problem is that nobody actually asked for this software, and it persisted between clean installs of Windows. Lenovo was essentially exploiting a root kit on its own laptops to ensure its software persists if wiped.
From my vantage point in rural Kentucky, it would seem that Lenovo is not able to make money selling personal computers and it cannot make money with malware.
The company may need a product optimizer or engineering that allows my limping dog to make haste less slowly. I find it interesting how Dark Web shadows fall across the sunny meadow next to the pond filled with mine drainage. Into every sunny Kentucky day, a cloud must drift.
I love the search system on the Lenovo Web site. Quite a challenge I had to locate the fix. I assume the malware specialists remain on staff, don’t you?
Stephen E Arnold, August 13, 2015
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