Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: razel
Deliberate? No
It was very deliberate, and Lenovo is now facing several lawsuits as well as a class action investigation.
Article
Originally Posted By: From Article
Though Lenovo said it only installed Superfish on PCs sold between September and December 2014, the suit wants to include anyone who bought a Lenovo PC dating back to Jan. 1, 2012.
And even more evidence that it was deliberate.
Article
The CTO discusses the commercial relationship between Lenovo and the company that wrote the ad/malware.
Originally Posted By: From Article
Hortensius (Lenovo CTO) said that Lenovo and Superfish had a “minor commercial relationship,”
And to top it off, the CTO would do it again if it could be "done right".
Originally Posted By: From Article
With that said, Hortensius didn't rule out adware returning to Lenovo PCs.
“I think you do this thing right, people like information and awareness,” Hortensius said, when asked whether adware would be used again.
Lenovo's only problem here was lack of due diligence. Shipping with programs to target ads isn't unusual. The problem here was the specific software broke https connections, which could be a huge potential security risk.
Originally Posted By: cpayne5
Originally Posted By: dishdude
It's a Chinese company, what do you expect?
Bingo.
Incorrect. It has nothing to do with that. Computer manufacturers shipping with this type of software is not remotely unusual, and pretty much all computers also come with some form of trialware.
The main issue at stake here is the specific software package lenovo was using also happened to break HTTPS connections, renedering them insecure by issuing easily replicable, invalid SSL/TLS certificates. And Lenovo has issued a tool for removal of the software, and has stated they will never be doing business with the company in question again.