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ware/" target=3D"_blank">http://www.cnet.com/news/lenovo-hit-by-lawsuit-ove=
r-superfish-adware/



ware/" target=3D"_blank">http://www.cnet.com/news/lenovo-hit-by-lawsuit-ove=
r-superfish-adware/

Lenovo may find itself in a courtroom over its Superfish adware fiasco.



One lawsuit filed in federal court last week charges both Lenovo and

Superfish with violating wiretap laws and trespassing on personal

property, Ars Technica reported Monday. In another case, a legal firm

has launched a class action investigation over potential claims against

Lenovo's actions.



The Chinese PC maker has found itself in hot water following last week'=
s

revelations that many of its PCs include a software program called

Superfish Visual Discovery. Considered either adware or spyware,

Superfish tracks your Web searches and browsing activity to place

additional ads on the sites you visit. But the software also installs

its own root certificate that leaves affected PCs more vulnerable to

malware attacks.



Lenovo has apologized for the problem and has begun work to resolve it.

"We messed up badly," said Peter Hortensius, Lenovo's chief t=
echnology

officer, said last week.



The world's biggest computer maker, Lenovo has managed to earn a hefty<=
br>
profit and significant presence in the sluggish PC market. The company'=
s

laptop lineup has garnered generally good reviews. But the fact that

Lenovo installed such software on its PCs could do a fair amount of

damage to both its reputation and sales. Legal defense could also cost

the company.



The individual suit filed February 19 in U.S. District Court in the

Southern District of California by blogger Jessica Bennett charges that

the Superfish software tracked her Internet use, invaded her privacy and>
damaged her computer. Specifically, Bennett said that she was writing a

blog post on her PC when she noticed ads involving "scantily clad wome=
n"

on her client's website. Later, Bennett said, she was working on a

different client site when she saw the same set of ads, making her

realize that it was her own computer that was infected by some type of

spyware.



Her lawsuit, which seeks a class action status and jury trial, charges

Lenovo with the following:



=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Defendants' Spyware and popup advertisements decrease pro=
ductivity

by requiring that hours be spent figuring out how to get them off of a

computer, closing advertising windows, and waiting for a slower machine

to operate. Furthermore, computer users are forced to keep their

computers running longer (due to the slowed performance) which utilizes

more electricity, decreases the useful life of a computer, and causes

increased Internet access charges. The cumulative impact of not only

multiple ads, but also the threat of future ads and monitoring, impedes

computer usage.



Meanwhile, the class action investigation launched by the New York-based>
Rosen Law Firm is looking for consumers who purchased the affected

Lenovo PCs and want to participate in a class action lawsuit. The firm

charges that the Superfish adware "exposes the computer user to seriou=
s

security vulnerabilities that could result in the theft of users' login=


and passwords, and other sensitive data that a user transmits online, as>
well as a degraded internet experience caused by it downloading and

injecting third party ads and pop-up windows."



Lenovo PC owners can determine if the Superfish software is installed on>
their machines and then remove it by following the steps in this CNET

article. Lenovo has also published its own instructions on finding and

removing the software.



A Lenovo spokesperson told CNET on Tuesday that the company does not

comment on litigation.



Tags:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Security

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Computers

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Lenovo



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About the author

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Lance Whitney



=C2=A0 =C2=A0 twitter



Journalist, software trainer, and Web developer Lance Whitney writes

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