Most commercial operating systems come bundled with a suite of apps developed by the OS developer (Apple, Microsoft, or Google). Apps with vulnerabilitiesĪll software can potentially contain accidental vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors, but software of dubious provenance, such as bloatware, is likely more susceptible to this than most. In 2017, it was forced to make another settlement with the FTC, in which it also agreed to be monitored by the FTC for 20 years. A class action lawsuit was filed against Lenovo over the incident, resulting in the company paying $7.3 million in damages to customers who had been affected. Microsoft quickly responded by releasing an update for Windows Defender, which removed Superfish. It also opened up the possibility of criminal hackers extracting the private key used by Superfish and using it to sign their own certificates, which they could then use to spy on Lenovo users if they were on the same network (such as the public WiFi at a coffee shop). The certificate authority used the same private key across laptops, which allowed Superfish to intercept users’ HTTPS secure communications without triggering any browser warnings. This already bad situation escalated dramatically in February 2015 when Superfish software installed a self-signed certificate authority, which allowed a man-in-the-middle attack to show Lenovo users ads even on SSL-encrypted pages. Since 2014 concerns had been raised about the way in which Superfish Visual Search software scanned SSL-encrypted traffic on machines sold by Lenovo. The most notorious example of this was laptop manufacturer Lenovo pre-installing Superfish spyware on its machines. Some more aggressive adware apps may even show pop-up ads on your device’s screen. Some bloatware is little more than malware that sends a lot of information back to its developers, which is then used to target you with personalized ads. Most of it isn’t actually harmful, although there are some exceptions. Is bloatware a security risk?īloatware can be annoying, as the unnecessary apps use up memory and processing power, and can thus slow your device down. In some cases, this business model is fairly harmless, but in others, most notably the practice of bundling expensive and unnecessary antivirus software on new PCs, it can be viewed as highly exploitative, preying on the ignorance of less tech-savvy users who may feel obliged to upgrade for fear that “bad things” might happen if they don’t. It is typically loaded onto devices by OEM manufacturers as part of a business deal with the software’s developers, who hope that once the new owners have tried using their software, they will pay to continue using it. Most software people think of as bloatware is third-party trial software that is either time-limited or has other restrictions that can only be removed by purchasing the full product or subscription. It is not usually malicious, but it uses up system resources and can therefore slow down your device. Bloatware is unwanted software pre-installed on new PCs, laptops, and mobile devices by the device manufacturer, OS developer, or network carrier.
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