Biggest PC maker leaving users vulnerable

China-based Lenovo, the world’s largest PC maker, is being accused of shipping its laptops with a preinstalled major security defect.   

According to multiple reports, the computer manufacturer has been installing an “adware” program called Superfish on consumer laptops that automatically injects ads into Internet browsers.

{mosads}Cybersecurity experts say hackers can easily co-opt this software, which has the authority on these laptops to open up users’ encrypted connections. This would give hackers unfiltered access to spy on and steal from the laptop.

Reuters reported that users started complaining about the program as far back as June.

In late January, a Lenovo community administrator, Mark Hopkins, wrote in a company forum that Lenovo had “temporarily removed Superfish from our consumer systems until such time as Superfish is able to provide a software build that addresses these issues.”

The company also requested that Superfish “auto-update a fix that addresses these issues.”

Hopkins defended the software’s presence as a consumer-friendly add-on.

It “helps users find and discover products visually,” he said. “The technology instantly analyzes images on the web and presents identical and similar product offers that may have lower prices.”

The discovery could further raise already high suspicions between the U.S. and China over the security of each country’s technology.

China is expected to soon introduce rules that would make U.S. tech companies submit their code to the government for inspection before being allowed operating in China.

The revelation earlier this week that the National Security Agency was installing bugs into hard drives at dozens of top manufacturers has only exacerbated the situation.