Security → Lenovo collects usage data on ThinkPad, ThinkCentre and ThinkStation PCs

 
»www.computerworld.com/ar ··· pcs.html

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Lenovo seems to be testing the boundaries of trust.

First came the Superfish scandal where they were found to be pre-loading ad software that was so poorly implemented that it left victims/customers vulnerable to serious security flaws.

Then, Lenovo software was discovered on a fresh install of the retail edition of Windows. Lenovo had been modifying the BIOS, to insure that, no matter what a customer did, their software got installed. And, this was software that both The Register and ExtremeTech referred to as "crapware". That the software (the Lenovo Service Engine) was buggy, just made a bad situation worse. In the end, Lenovo updated the BIOS not to muck around with the installed copy of Windows. ...

Back in October 2014, I purchased a refurbished ThinkPad T520 laptop from IBM. In June of this year, I purchased a refurbished T420 ThinkPad, again from IBM. Both shipped with fresh copies of Windows 7 Professional.

When I examined the task scheduler database on these machines I found a troubling entry in each....

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On computers only? Lenovo also builds cell phones and owns Motorola.

If IBM installed the driver set from Lenovo that software is a part of the default image deployment. There is nothing shady about how it got there.

My ThinkPad x230 does not have the experience nonsense installed - I explicitly told ThinkVantage System Update not to download it with the rest of the drivers on a clean install of 7 Pro that I preformed myself.

Moral of the story? Don't count on someone else to do a clean install for you.

That article is clickbait riding on the wave of legitimate security concerns and privacy issues of Lenovo's consumer lineup.

There is no evidence that any of the Think line is affected by the constant privacy issues of the consumer line which is designed by a different team in Bejing. Think products are handled out of the US and Japan.

Now I will note this - Lenovo has constantly broken peoples trust thanks to their gross mishandling of their consumer line. In the process they have ruined the reputation of the Think line, and I honestly think they have sealed the fate of the company in the US market.

The sad part is how we really have few choices for well made laptops anymore, if you exclude the ThinkPad that leaves you with Latitude vs Elitebook. Elitebooks are nowhere near as good as they were a few years ago and an all-mag alloy Latitude is 2x the price of the equivalent ThinkPad.

Ugh, the computer market sucks.

It is really surprising you would have backdoors and spyware installed from brands that originate from a Communist Country? Little red star sickle stickers of approval?

I have bad news for you but almost every PC is manufactured in China. Even if it is a US brand the Chinese could be loading malware at such a deep layer we would have no idea if it was kept dormant.

Think about how many semiconductors on your motherboard are made in China. Its a game we cant win.

The NSA, FSB (KGB 9th Directorate really), and the MSS are winning the cyber war against us little people and there is literally nothing we can do, unless you plan on making all of the chips in your system by hand.

What did Lenovo get caught doing - that Microsoft isn't also doing?Tens of thousands of (US+World) biz & gov deploy spyware/backdoors but only the Chinese are bad guys for doing it?
Why is that?

Because they are doing it for different reasons. They are doing it to steal state/business secrets and technology from (American companies and Government). While Google and Microsoft just want to use it for monetary and ecosystem purposes.

Stealing technology from the US is also for monetary purposes. They turn around and make a cheaper version and sell it to the developing world, killing the US company. Then with the revenue they make with the knock-off they can buy the original US company.

This is what happened to Segway.

It all comes down to the great dollar in the end. Everything has a motive and that motive is cash.

Dont let the Chinese Communist Party fool you - they are not Communist and have not been since the reforms of Deng. Its really the Chinese Capitalist Red-Flag Corruption Party.

Lenovo is uploading the data to 112.2o7.net. 2o7.net is owned by Adobe.
Why do you think Adobe is involved in stealing state/business secrets and technology from (American companies and Government)?

I was speaking in general terms. But, yea you're right.

One of the many Adobe Omniture/Sitecatalyst ad & data-mining addresses.

MVPS Hosts - SpywareBlaster, others kill that one

Zenit & Noah Vail = voices of reason. Thank you.

Though one bone to pick regarding "Dont let the Chinese Communist Party fool you." It's a McCarthy era hangover + competitive IR rhetoric from Washington which perpetuates our Red Scare mentality and the sticky communist tag.
China's form of governance is officially "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and has been since, err ... mid 1980s maybe? Can't recall. At any rate, the party considers it's own name a vestige and their policies as anchored in dynamic socialism.
/nit pick

Now, whatever shall I do with my Lenovo G5 thingy. Hmph.

We love to label those who does that as "communist". But, no matter what, we don't like to see what's going on right here, in our own country... Check this (IMHO very related) thread - Apple MS Symantec IBM Adobe unite behind CISA Surveillance Bill.

Yessir -via MVPS Hosts -