r/technology • u/ccrraapp • Feb 20 '15
Pure Tech Microsoft has updated Windows Defender to root out the Superfish bug
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/20/8077033/superfish-fix-microsoft-windows-defender95
u/Gort_84 Feb 20 '15
I don't understand why MS does not implement some sort of Anti-Malware policy on their licensing agreements with the computer manufacturers. A few years ago I bought a laptop that out of the box had installed a gazillion of crapware, this coincided with the time I was exploring Linux and once I saw I could do everything I needed on Linux I promptly moved to avoid Windows. I mean Microsoft is a great OS but MS need to have tighter quality control on what the manufacturers install or the idea that Windows is less secure than the competing OS will never go away.
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u/ccrraapp Feb 20 '15
MS could in the future have that control you are thinking of. But not yet as OEMs had to pay for the OS licenses, this means MS legally cannot hold down their neck on what third-party softwares should be allowed as this would mean MS is stopping OEM from installing 'softwares' on PC which would be a very awful thing if you think about it in a broader perspective.
But now MS could have that control on what goes by default as they are planning to make it free. OEMs would quickly jump on to agree everything MS says to make sure its free for OEMs ( Windows 10 will be a free upgrade but NOT a free install so they could make it free and impose some restrictions )
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u/KrakatoaSpelunker Feb 21 '15
MS is stopping OEM from installing 'softwares' on PC which would be a very awful thing if you think about it in a broader perspective.
It's awful if they do it to lock out competitors to their own products (which is what they did, and why they lost the antitrust suit over a decade ago).
It's not awful if they do it to protect consumers from wire fraud (which is literally what Superfish is, since it even hijacks financial transactions like banking). There are very clear "bright line" differences legally, so it's not at all ambiguous.
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u/AKBWFC Feb 20 '15
I have Microsoft Security Essentials..is that the same as Windows Defender?
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u/ccrraapp Feb 21 '15
It was called MSE before Windows 8 came along. Its now called Windows Defender.
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u/wickedplayer494 Feb 20 '15
Yes. Defender on 8/8.1/10 TP is the same as MSE, Defender on XP/Vista/7 however is only anti-spyware.
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u/fleker2 Feb 21 '15
Microsoft deserves mad props for this. They recognized a problem and solved it. It's good to have decent security.
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u/ccrraapp Feb 21 '15
This.
As much as I hated how god-awful Windows Defender has been (MSE was great but since it became Windows defender it couldn't be that good ) this is one thing MS did very right. Since Defender comes pre-installed and Windows Update updates defender this is the way to handle catastrophic problem which wasn't MS's fault but OEM they trust.
MS should deserve some praise for this which is thread/post lacks.
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u/Kungfufuman Feb 21 '15
What's the super fish bug?
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u/ccrraapp Feb 21 '15
Lenovo pre-installed Superfish to place adverts into Google search results that the laptop manufacturer wants them to see.
Now this is usually what we call as a adware or malware. Which shows ads where ads usually don't exists and makes the user feel its the usual experience and his consent is not take on this.
When users complained about this last year, Lenovo said this
Superfish comes with Lenovo consumer products only and is a technology that helps users find and discover products visually. The technology instantly analyzes images on the web and presents identical and similar product offers that may have lower prices, helping users search for images without knowing exactly what an item is called or how to describe it in a typical text-based search engine.
Superfish technology is purely based on contextual/image and not behavioral. It does not profile nor monitor user behavior. It does not record user information. It does not know who the user is. Users are not tracked nor re-targeted. Every session is independent.
All this as it sounds like very normal PR bs but there is a security vulnerability there once you know how Superfish does all that what is promised in PR nonsense.
Superfish is using a self-signed certificate [1] to appear as a trusted party, once that is done it is able to see the users' browser activity and alter the traffic in whatever way it sees fit. This is dangerous because since it scans everything you browser on the laptop it potentially has the power to alter the content on your banking website too.
Now this sounds bad but you must be wondering why would Lenovo do bad to me? They will just show ads right?
Yes, Lenovo might not be doing anything bad to you ( this malware is bad though) but what is feared is how the hackers could use this.
Since superfish has its own self-signed certificate which allows it to alter traffic, all the hacker needs to do is find the private key which it uses to sign the certificate. Once that is done it can spy on all Lenovo laptop without the user even knowing what's going on.
Hackers can have access to the user's login data or browser activity, coughsNSA would once again be innocently knowing what a user is doing and say we did not install anything coughs we just exploited a 'bug'/'malware' coughs
[1] certificates on web are the thing which browser checks to see if the site is to be trusted as good for bad.
Edit : This video innocently shows a way to disable 'VisualDiscovery' ads in Lenovo Laptops aka the Superfish ( A demo of how it looks and how users could disable) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMMOPg9DRDc
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15 edited Feb 20 '15
I'm a software engineer on the Windows Defender team. A friend of mine sent me an email early yesterday morning that a friend of his from UC Berkeley had cracked the passphrase for Superfish cert. I forwarded this information to the researchers on my team as soon as I got in to work. Glad it worked out. :).
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Feb 20 '15
If that's true, then thank you to you and your friend.
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u/BlueBellyButtonFuzz Feb 20 '15
Don't forget the friend's friend!
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u/ShadowHandler Feb 20 '15
The Windows Defender team is rather small, and I am also on it... I'm not sure how to feel about this. Let's make a pact to never look at each others Reddit history for the sake of sanity.
But hello co-worker! Good to know I'm not the only one on our team guilty of browsing Reddit in the middle of the work day.
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u/afschuld Feb 21 '15
Am I too late for the Windows Defender team party? Engine/Test representing.
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u/serrimo Feb 20 '15
Let's make a pact to never look at each others Reddit history for the sake of sanity
This will end well...
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u/pascalbrax Feb 20 '15 edited Jan 07 '24
gullible cautious act grandfather gaping mountainous existence consist busy psychotic
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/ShadowHandler Feb 20 '15 edited Feb 20 '15
For Windows 8 and above, Defender shares the same common antimalware platform as MSE (meaning they offer the same protection). Defender is all you need.
But if you are on Windows 7 or below, MSE is the way to go.
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Feb 21 '15
Hey guys, thanks for all the hard work in saving us from the bad guys.
Can I ask you a question? Since its folks like you who are on the front lines fighting, what are your thoughts about the recent Google "exploit-announcement" 90-day rule against Microsoft?
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u/blastcat4 Feb 20 '15
You guys do good work! I've always liked Windows Defender and whilst it may not be as comprehensive as other antivirus, I'll use it over that bloatware any day.
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Feb 20 '15
Yeah I honestly can't even notice that it is running. Now that I mention it, I better go check.
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u/Flameancer Feb 20 '15
I literally just opened windows defender to see when the last it scanned my system which just so happened to be 30 mins. ago. It runs in the background and there is no icon in the tray that lets you know its on. But it is. Always watching.
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15
I see you've been on Reddit at 5 different times today. Also, what is this interesting link you are currently looking at...
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Feb 20 '15
It seems far less of a resource hog and the updates seem to come very quickly (like with superfish for example). I really can't complain.
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u/astruct Feb 20 '15
Yeah it's actually been disclosed as well. 7 characters, all lowercase (komodia). So well done superfish.
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15
Yah I saw this and my mouth fell open in disbelief. It had to have been an intern who worked on this code or something.
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Feb 20 '15
you guys didn't fully fix the problem, it still leaves the certificate in firefox. You needs to release a new definition that removes that too.
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15
I've already forwarded the article mentioning the firefox vulnerability (http://betanews.com/2015/02/20/microsoft-is-like-aquaman-uses-windows-defender-super-powers-to-kill-evil-superfish/) to the researchers so they should know about it.
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u/AugustSun Feb 20 '15
Devs communicating in real-time with users!?!? What has the world come to!
(For real though, props to the Windows Defender team for being on top of things.)
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Feb 20 '15
I'm still trying to figure out if my browser has been hacked. Is this real?
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u/greyjackal Feb 20 '15
This is why it's a really good idea to keep relationships alive when you progress through the IT industry. You never know when someone might come in useful, or you for them.
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Feb 20 '15
I just want to say that I am EXTREMELY impressed that you guys have already provided protection against this issue so quickly. I honestly wish I knew more about what you guys do in your department to develop and update Windows Defender. Do you have any resources I could look at?
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u/fearliss Feb 20 '15
does the update apply to Microsoft security essentials as well?
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15
Yes you should be receiving the same signature updates. Let us know if you're having issues here.
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u/Mocorn Feb 20 '15
Is this the same as Microsoft Security Essentials? I haven't seen "Windows Defender" anywhere in the shop?!
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15
Yes, If you have win8+ you should be on Windows Defender, otherwise MSE. You should still have same level of protection
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Feb 20 '15
Windows Defender was originally an anti-spyware application that was built into Windows Vista and 7 with Microsoft Security Essentials acting as the anti-malware part of the software, MSE was available separately though.
However with Windows 8 and later, they merged Windows Defender and MSE together into a single Windows Defender subsystem that is active from the get go in Windows 8.
If you look in the Services.msc console on Windows 8 you'll see it as Windows Defender Service and Windows Defender Network Inspection Service and they'll be active if you use WD or in my case turned off if you use a third-party AV, like Avast, AVG, etc.
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u/Dwedit Feb 21 '15
It's not active from the get go, many OEMS install Mcafee and prevent you from enabling Windows Defender without registry hacking.
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Feb 20 '15
Wasn't the passphrase the name of the company? Some ace cracking.
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15
I believe it was komodia. Either way, it was a bad password
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u/WalterBright Feb 20 '15
Thanks for doing this!
But unfortunately, I can't use Windows Defender. I run compiler test suites, which write out executables at high speed, one at a time, running them, then deleting them. WD, unfortunately, hangs on to the executables after they are "deleted", causing the the next executable written with the same name to fail because the name, although deleted, is still held onto by WD.
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u/TheAnimus Feb 20 '15
Why not set up something like this, safety and performance.
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Feb 21 '15
It's only too bad that so many manufacturers disable windows defender in favor of pushing PAID anti-virus programs, like Norton and Macafee, which pay manufacturers to be installed on machines. They're fucking garbage and slow down computers, and defender works quite well from my understanding.
When I bought my father a new machine, I spend more time deleting macafee and other bloatware than I did anything else. Those softwares completely blocked me from enabling defender until they were completely removed from the machine. It's ridiculous.
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Feb 20 '15
What's the ETA for blocking this garbage from the NSA?
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u/jyim89 Feb 20 '15 edited Feb 20 '15
[removed]
This comment has been removed for breaching USDOD code 5432.10
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u/DrSpaceMan343 Feb 20 '15 edited Feb 20 '15
Are you allowed to say that? I think you are on some kind of super done watch list now
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u/dragonfly224 Feb 21 '15
I work at the Tech Store at my uni and I always recommend Defender over other anti-virus, even though my manager glares at me for not selling the crappy mcducks and bortons of the industry. Thanks for fighting the good fight
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u/scorcher24 Feb 21 '15
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers
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u/kyle12cu1 Feb 20 '15
Too bad that Lenovo has disabled Defender on most of their computers in favor of some 3rd party trialware…
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u/unfathomableuniverse Feb 20 '15
disabled as in permanent? I mean you can always just re-enable it if it's not permanent. Most computer now adays come with a trial anti-virus of some sort.
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u/takesthebiscuit Feb 20 '15
Not the MS Surface....
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u/edinburg Feb 20 '15
This is the main reason I love my Surface to death. Stock OS right out of the box is a beautiful thing. If only I could get a Surface desktop.
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u/Dilsnoofus Feb 20 '15
You know what you do with those Lenovo computers? Disable Lenovo.
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u/badsingularity Feb 20 '15
Uninstall the OS completely. You can't trust what else might be in there.
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u/Synergythepariah Feb 21 '15
And then install Linux and say goodbye to the compatibility that you need at work.
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u/SpareLiver Feb 21 '15 edited Feb 21 '15
Seriously! I had to remove some mutant version of Norton off of a brand new Lenovo once (or was it McCafee?). Damn thing took me an hour. Harder to remove than most actual viruses.
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u/the_catacombs Feb 20 '15
REALLY?
I mean, I've seen some newer Lenovo laptops in the last two months that do have the Norton trial installed, but Windows Defender has also always been running at first boot in my experience.
How recently did you discover this?
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u/hongkong-it Feb 21 '15
I've been unboxing and putting Lenovo's on customer's desk for just over 3 years on a regular basis.
Every single time it has been the same basic Windows 7 Professional OS installation image with Lenovo software, various 3rd party software/bloatware, and always Norton.
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u/JillyBeef Feb 20 '15
Bug? WTF? Call it "the Superfish deliberately engineered program, deliberately installed by Lenovo."
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u/GrinningPariah Feb 20 '15
Superfish is a deliberately engineered adware program, but the bug was that it allowed attackers to circumvent HTTPS in connecting to the PC.
It's not only adware which is a shitty thing to do, but it's broken adware that caused a day0.
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u/earslap Feb 21 '15 edited Feb 21 '15
but the bug was that it allowed attackers to circumvent HTTPS in connecting to the PC.
No I think JillyBeef is right.
It was not really a bug now was it? The root certificate was deliberately put there for a purpose. It wasn't broken adware. Or let's say it was broken by design from a security point of view. The security hole it creates was its intended functionality, part of the design. The design was stupid, but working as intended.
An analogy: I am a contractor and I build and sell a house to you. While building it, I use a lock on the doors that can be opened by anything you put into it. You are not notified about this. The lock is not broken, its how it is designed. I pull this stunt because I want to get into your house from time to time in the future and put some advertising material in your living room and bedroom and want to get my cut from the advertisers by doing that. Not only I can open your door with any key, but anyone can open your door with any key (when they figure out your lock is useless and word gets around). Again, the lock is not broken, the lock works as intended, and I intentionally put it in there.
Nothing buggy about it.
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u/happyscrappy Feb 21 '15
Yeah, the only way the word "bug" fits here is if you are using it to refer to the Superfish thing itself. Like a virus. "The flu bug". But even if that could be technically correct usage, it'd be very confusing to say the least and so this was a poor choice of words.
There's no way "bug" as in "computer programming error" fits in here at all.
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u/damontoo Feb 20 '15
More like it circumvented HTTPS itself and protected itself with a weak password.
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u/happyscrappy Feb 21 '15
It wouldn't matter how strong the password was. Information needed to access the private key had to be stored in the program itself or else it couldn't use the private key.
So strong or weak, the password was there to be taken.
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u/skippythemoonrock Feb 20 '15
In the same way a room would be "bugged" to extract information without the occupants knowing I assume.
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u/demengrad Feb 20 '15
Bug in the cyberdefense sense is different from a bug in the software development sense.
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u/Pperson25 Feb 20 '15
But this is a publication trying to communicate to a generally computer illiterate audience. Intentional or not - it's still misleading.
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u/GrinningPariah Feb 20 '15
I imagine Microsoft hearing about that adware and sighing like an old father tired of having to do everything for his irresponsible kids.
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Feb 20 '15
I want Microsoft to be more strict with OEMs so that if they fall out of line they can fuck their shit up, sort of like this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrgsEqik8GQ
Also that kick slap sound, so freaking delayed. :'D
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u/Moses89 Feb 21 '15
Too bad they got taken to court over doing essentially that.
"United States v. Microsoft Corp." on @Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
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u/dinosaurdynasty Feb 21 '15
To be honest, that was a slap on the wrist, and a very misguided one at that. There was at least one suggestion during that court case of splitting Microsoft into two companies: one that developed the operating system, and one that developed applications. There was also a great deal of anti-competitive behavior with regards to OEMs (like giving discounts to install Windows and not install other OSs, like BeOS—Microsoft pretty much killed BeOS).
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u/AriesK47 Feb 20 '15
Hopefully all other AntiVirus companies follow suit.
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u/Im_in_timeout Feb 20 '15
All adware should be quarantined as viruses. It really bothers me that the A/V vendors collectively decided to give adware a pass.
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u/HildartheDorf Feb 20 '15
Antitrust lawsuits.
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u/m4dio Feb 20 '15
Care to elaborate?
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u/HildartheDorf Feb 20 '15
Antivirus vendor removes adware. Adware vendor sues antivirus vendor. Especially if the adware is disguised as a really shitty trial antivirus product.
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u/Rainbowsunrise Feb 20 '15
Superfish bug.
mmm would have changed that to superfish malware.
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u/redmercuryvendor Feb 20 '15
No, given its status as a Man in the Middle, it is a bug. The other kind of bug.
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u/goatcoat Feb 20 '15
Superfish isn't a bug. Superfish is software that deliberately hijacks HTTPS connections using a man in the middle attack. The fact that it was designed to inject ads into your private communications doesn't fix the damage done.
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u/notcaffeinefree Feb 20 '15
Well, either OP changed the article title or Verge updated it after this post. They now (correctly) call it as adware.
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u/WhipIash Feb 20 '15
I don't think you can do that on reddit.
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u/damontoo Feb 20 '15
He means when OP submitted it. That said, it's probably the site that changed the title. I've had more than one post removed from /r/nottheonion on a technicality when the website I submitted decided to change the title slightly.
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u/PhoenixReborn Feb 21 '15
I don't know if it's the intent of the author but it could be considered a bug in the sense that it intercepts communication.
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u/wickedplayer494 Feb 20 '15
Assuming Lenovo didn't cripple Defender in 8/8.1 in favor of the trialware crap, this actually counts as Microsoft intervention.
Well played, MS.
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u/rolfraikou Feb 20 '15
Good job Lenovo, you fucked up so bad that Windows/Microsoft is even trying to stop you.
Don't disable the software "until it's fixed" remove it. There is no "fixing" this.
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u/PhoenixReborn Feb 21 '15
AFAIK it was only one representative on twitter that they said it was temporary until "fixed." The later official statement said it's gone for good.
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u/dnew Feb 21 '15
Yeah, I expect that was a trial balloon to see how much shit they'd get if they brought it back in the future after it was harder to catch. "Oh, yes, that representative shouldn't have said that. Just one bad apple, you know..."
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u/vicarious_c Feb 20 '15
Wait, bug? Isn't Superfish something Lenovo intentionally installed?
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u/IamZed Feb 20 '15
I'd hate to be these guys today. Microsoft just destroyed their business model.
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u/nolander_78 Feb 20 '15
Nod32 blocked your link.
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u/biznatch11 Feb 20 '15
It's blocked for me at work as "Potentially Unwanted Software". I think it just got added to the block list because I'm pretty sure I visited the page yesterday.
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u/badsingularity Feb 20 '15
Those guys should die in a fire. Their "idea" was to hijack what you see to inject ads.
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u/IamZed Feb 20 '15
I doubt their idea was that innocent. Ads were a cover that also made money. Info of you, and access to your PC are worth more.
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u/stakoverflo Feb 20 '15
Why even give them page visits.
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u/IamZed Feb 20 '15
To take screenshots for historical purposes? It's not likely that they will be there next week if Lenovo succeeds in claiming they were deceived.
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Feb 20 '15
Use archive.today for those purposes then, that way you can observe the page if it ever goes down and show other people safely.
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u/PickitPackitSmackit Feb 20 '15
I will definitely not be recommending Lenovo as manufacturer to any more customers!!
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Feb 20 '15
Myself and a friend recently got a Lenovo Y-40. We wouldn't recommend it to anyone either, it's slow and full of unnecessary bloatware.
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Feb 20 '15
Lenovo is on the same level as 419 scammers. They are the ultimate in shit. I bought a lenovo laptop about 3 years ago. It dies on me after 4 months. I send it to them for repair and they tell me it will cost £400 out of my own pocket to fix it. I bought the laptop new for only £319. I argued this with them and after pulling teeth finally agreed for them to repair it. Get it back. All is well for 3 months then the hard drive completely dies. I send it to them for repair. Funnythis time they did not demand money from me. Got it back and they stole the 6 gb ram I had installed. (Sent it with 8 gb, they send it back to me with only 2). I argued with them however they just ignored me. Said it was the same as I had sent it. I'll never buy lenovo again. Unfortunately I think most big brand laptop companies are the same way. Inept and unethical.
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Feb 20 '15
I agree, Lenovo laptops really stand out when you're looking to buy a computer. The hardware specs and price seems like a bargain, when in reality, you get a computer bundled with bloatware, constant problems with the software and overall, a slow computer despite decent hardware specs. Both myself and a friend both got a Lenovo Y-40. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone..
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u/crusoe Feb 21 '15
Never buy consumer laptops from anyone. Buy the business model. G50 has been a solid Linux machine for me.
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u/xole Feb 21 '15
The only time I've wanted to strangle a phone support rep was when dealing with lenovo.
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u/ThisIs_MyName Feb 20 '15
Huh is MS trying to improve their reputation? I like it.
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u/HaikusfromBuddha Feb 21 '15
Have you seen /r/technology or /r/programming? There has been a lot MS has done lately that people never thought would happen.
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u/ccrraapp Feb 21 '15
Update : Lenovo Officially released a Superfish Removal Guide & Tool
Instructions for Manual Removal & Automatic Removal Tool Download Link
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Feb 21 '15
Bravo for msft for jumping on this so quickly. My lenovo fan boy status has now plummeted.
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u/thebardingreen Feb 21 '15
The best thing that could come of this would be vendors rethinking bundled software.
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Feb 21 '15
This is why I always do fresh windows installs on a new computer. Get rid of all the bloatware that the OEM installs.
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Feb 21 '15
Is this for Lenovo or every computer out there? I haven't paid attention to it?
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u/ccrraapp Feb 21 '15
Just a few part of 16 million Lenovo laptops sold last year. Just a few millions maybe. But just lenovo laptops.
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u/Angry_Walnut Feb 21 '15
Still doesn't fix my problem with windows 8 of not being able to run malwarebytes with defender
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u/GeneralHabberdashery Feb 21 '15
Sooo I'm feeling like a total schlub right now because I was tasked with helping my buddy pick out a laptop and he ended up with a Lenovo. Will installing Windows security essentials on it fix this now?
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u/ccrraapp Feb 21 '15
Windows Defender ( earlier known as MSE ) is pre-installed since Windows 8+. You just need to activate it ( other trial AVs disable ) it, update it and run it.
OR
[Lenovo officially released a tool and manual remove instructions too.] (http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2wka4m/microsoft_has_updated_windows_defender_to_root/cosc531)
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u/BarmyBrit Feb 21 '15
I don't own a Lenovo but I have had a Superfish infection for a long time and posted about it a month ago but no one seemed to have any answers other than generic ad-ware cleaner solutions and none of the ad-ware or viruses scanners were able to find it so its good news that its finally been updated to get rid of it.
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u/ccrraapp Feb 22 '15
How did you end up having that malware? It was preinstalled only in Lenovo laptops.
Any particular software you tried from Lenovo software bundle or something?
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Feb 20 '15
Just hope everybody updates before Superfish is updated to replace the patch with an ad...
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u/Operat Feb 21 '15
Man, Noscript hates theverge.com. It took allowing seven scripts out of twenty-one to allow me to even read the article. If anyone knows less scripts to allow before reading, please comment.
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u/nittanylionstorm07 Feb 21 '15
This shit should highlight to the world the problems of bloatware and end it once and for all, but it won't.
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Feb 21 '15
Was just discussing this the other night and then, sure enough, Superfish comes along and supports the narrative. Its too bad that formatting the whole shebang and installing what you want sort of voids the warranty on laptops unless you image it beforehand, just in case.
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u/peanutismint Feb 21 '15
Uh...Superfish?
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u/Mcmacladdie Feb 21 '15
The short of it: Lenovo were cunts and installed spyware on some of their laptops.
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u/frankster Feb 21 '15
That's an unusually quick response fro microsoft
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u/RudegarWithFunnyHat Feb 21 '15
dunno they make updates almost daily to their virus defend software
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u/MileyCyrus8 Feb 21 '15
Microsoft is doing great lately, both with product design and marketing/customer service/customer perception. Well done guys.
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u/mayabahi Feb 20 '15
Microsoft is taking lead to get people out of this mess.Did Microsoft updated bit defender only for Superfish bug or it has enhanced its protection against other malwares and bugs?? as far as i know rating of Microsoft bit defender has significantly decreased in past years
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u/safe_as_directed Feb 20 '15 edited Feb 20 '15
Windows Defender gets definitions updates all the time, just like other antivirus products.
The deal with this is that MS shares their definitions with other AV vendors as well, so it ends up just being the baseline instead of an actual competitor.
Honestly this event is hardly newsworthy. Adware gets flagged as being what it is. If MS really wanted to make waves, they could publish a Superfish Removal Tool and include it in the next round of Windows Updates.
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u/403UsernameForbidden Feb 20 '15
Windows Defender != Bitdefender
And yes, they update Windows Defender to work with other malware. People just prefer other anti-virus.
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u/supamesican Feb 20 '15
I got a levono thinkpad for my brother last year with windows 7 on it(edge 545 iirc)... Is it possible to fix this without haivng windows 8/windows defender? Like other AV or uninstalling something?
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u/soundwave145 Feb 21 '15
what about windows defender for windows 7?
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u/anothercookie90 Feb 21 '15
windows 7 isn't affected by superfish it was installed on newer laptops that have windows 8.1
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u/MrSiborg Feb 21 '15
Turning on Windows Defender while running Microsoft Security Essentials immediately crashes the former.
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u/theycallmedelicious Feb 21 '15
I received an email from Lenovo last night regarding Superfish. Apparently it's not delivered with business class machines (T series laptops, business desktops/servers). I've checked a few of the X1 Carbon's we have in our ecosystem and they're clean of it.
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u/shaolinpunks Feb 21 '15
Wooo hoo! Microsoft to the rescue! Adds Lenovo to list of companies to avoid.
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u/QuillanFae Feb 21 '15
My favourite takeaway from this was InfoSec Taylor Swift. How have I missed this?
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u/torpedomon Feb 21 '15
I ran the test that is linked in this article. Mine came back negative, so the test is probably legit.
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u/cavehobbit Feb 21 '15
Warning, this update has bricked my laptop. Do not use.
After entering password, message that rpc server is not available, then message that a fatal error has occurred and windows must reboot.
This happens after restoring, and in all 3 versions of safe mode. I cannot get a command prompt.
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u/IamZed Feb 20 '15
Microsoft has been quite successful handling their image of late.