Lenovo vows laptop security overhaul amid Superfish adware controversy
Computer giant to revamp systems in wake of Superfish lawsuit in the US
Lenovo Group, the world’s largest supplier of personal computers, plans to unveil a sweeping initiative to bolster security on its products, following the controversy over an adware that was preloaded on millions of its laptops in the fourth quarter.
Hong Kong-listed Lenovo saw its share price tumble 2 per cent to HK$11.76 at the noon break on Tuesday, after chief technology officer Peter Hortensius issued an open letter through the company’s website to apologise for the security scare.
“Lenovo may be in more hot water than initially thought. There could be a short-term hit to its stock price from reflex selling by retail investors,” Alberto Moel, a senior analyst at Bernstein Research, said.
The adware, called Superfish, pushes third-party adverts into Google searches and websites without the computer user’s permission.
The technology was adopted by Lenovo under a partnership with US-based software start-up Superfish, which pioneered visual search technology.
Security experts last week warned that the adware broke secure connections on affected laptops to access sensitive data and inject advertising.