Lenovo CTO: "Hey, look around – we're not the only ones with a crapware infection"

[Opcode]

Source

 

On Friday Lenovo is going to tell the world about how it plans to regain the trust of its users in the wake of the Superfish clusterfuck – and may even launch an independent security audit of its products.

 

"Our goal, in the end, is to make this right," Lenovo's CTO Peter Hortensius told The Register on Tuesday. "It's going to take a long road to earn trust back."

 

Lenovo, with the help of Microsoft and antivirus makers, worked to rid its laptops of Superfish, its ad-injection code and its rogue root CA certificate that compromised HTTPS connections, even releasing an open-source uninstall tool.

 

The firm hadn't realized that so many of its PCs were used in businesses, he said, and it was clear that it is going to be difficult to reestablish trust.

 

"By the end of this week we will release a more concrete statement around exactly what that means and we're still working towards that but we're considering any and all considerations," he said.

 

How about just doing away with the pre-packaged software all together. Take a note from WinBook who only installs NOD32 on their Windows tablets.

[connorpiper]

Sony, Toshiba, and HP all had Superfish installed on their computers at some point.

[Kyuubixchidori]

Didnt realize many of their PCs where used in business? lenovo is almost purely business oriented. 

[Norman_the_Owl]

That's really not an excuse.

[connorpiper]

Source

 

 

How about just doing away with the pre-packaged software all together. Take a note from WinBook who only installs NOD32 on their Windows tablets.

 

Those are on there to decrease the price of the computer. 

[dragosudeki]

"Hey, we're not that bad. We're as bad as everyone else!"

 

You are still bad...

[Octagoncow]

Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean that it's right... That excuse makes me feel even less of Lenovo.

[deadher0]

"Hey, we're not that bad. We're as bad as everyone else!"

 

You are still bad...

 

And so is everyone else.

[deadher0]

I cannot be the only one who actually read the article here...  But am I the only one that thinks it isn't fair to put a quote like "Hey, look around, we're not the only ones with a crapware infection" in the thread title when that isn't what the CTO said at all?  Look, yeah, I get it, the context is accurate, but even the slightest twisting of words unfairly makes this company seem incompetent and flippant...  and Lenovo is far from that.

 

The article even says the independent analysts have confirmed that this crapware problem is, indeed, an industry wide problem (and it has been for years).  

 

Why is everyone acting like this is news?

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

I cannot be the only one who actually read the article here...  But am I the only one that thinks it isn't fair to put a quote like "Hey, look around, we're not the only ones with a crapware infection" in the thread title when that isn't what the CTO said at all?  Look, yeah, I get it, the context is accurate, but even the slightest twisting of words unfairly makes this company seem incompetent and flippant...  and Lenovo is far from that.

 

The article even says the independent analysts have confirmed that this crapware problem is, indeed, an industry wide problem (and it has been for years).  

 

Why is everyone acting like this is news?

 

I was about to say; the thread title is incredibly misleading.

[Ohlyver]

That's really not an excuse.

Yes it is! Since most serious business will have tech guy that will install a custom image on the drive, so the get pure experience without crapware and preinstalled stuff

[Scheer]

Sony, Toshiba, and HP all had Superfish installed on their computers at some point.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but do you have proof of that? I only ask because we have you saying HP has used it, and we have HP saying they would never use Superfish or similar software.  Would be kind of funny if they had been using it, seeing as they are having a PR wet dream talking about how bad Lenovo is atm.

 

I cannot be the only one who actually read the article here...  But am I the only one that thinks it isn't fair to put a quote like "Hey, look around, we're not the only ones with a crapware infection" in the thread title when that isn't what the CTO said at all?  Look, yeah, I get it, the context is accurate, but even the slightest twisting of words unfairly makes this company seem incompetent and flippant...  and Lenovo is far from that.

 

The article even says the independent analysts have confirmed that this crapware problem is, indeed, an industry wide problem (and it has been for years).  

 

Why is everyone acting like this is news?

 

Yeah, I don't see anywhere that the CTO says anything other than the industry being in a bad state, a major play on words...

[FakezZ]

And this ladies and gentlemen is why you buy a macbook.

 

/s

 

On a serious note, I do not see why Apple does not exploit this. Had it been AMD they would be all like "OS X now with 50% less virus"

[Trik'Stari]

Here's a thought.

 

1. Install windows

2. Ship PC to customer or store.

3. Don't install anything other than the OS and maybe drivers?

4. Profit?

[Thony]

Best way to go about illegal, morally wrong activity is to point fingers at others doing it.

How heroic and mature....

[spartaman64]

And this ladies and gentlemen is why you buy a macbook.

 

/s

 

On a serious note, I do not see why Apple does not exploit this. Had it been AMD they would be all like "OS X now with 50% less virus"

nvidia took shots at amd plenty of times but of course when they do it its smart marketing but when amd does it its petty 

[ItsAFeature]

How about install a fresh version of Windows and don't put anything else on there? Until that happens, Lenovo won't be getting my business. And that goes for all the other laptop manufacturers too.

 

Same reason you should always buy the GPE of Android phones too. Bad bloatware is bad.

[BroliviaWilde]

Here's a thought.

 

1. Install windows

2. Ship PC to customer or store.

3. Don't install anything other than the OS and maybe drivers?

4. Profit?

 

I'm very certain your #4 is the reason why the prepacked 'crap-ware' is on there in the first place

[FakezZ]

nvidia took shots at amd plenty of times but of course when they do it its smart marketing but when amd does it its petty 

I just wanted to say that they should take advantage of the situation like AMD did. Of course I do not think it is petty, since I am encouraging it.

[jrfox87]

Of course others are doing similar crap, its how they are able to sell PCs at the cheap prices that consumers demand.