Flutterby™! : Lenovo spyware persists across OS re-installs 2015-08-12 19:40:01.780476+02

Lenovo spyware persists across OS re-installs

2015-08-12 19:40:01.780476+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments

Lenovo used the BIOS to install its own software over fresh Windows installs:

The oddity was first noted by Ars Technica forum user ‘ge814‘ and corroborated by Hacker News user ‘chuckup.’

The users discovered the issue in May when using a new Lenovo laptop that automatically and covertly overwrote a system file on every boot, which downloaded a Lenovo updater and installed software automatically, even if Windows was reinstalled from a DVD.

This included software that sent system data back to Lenovo.

This is apparently a Microsoft-sanctioned thing: the "Windows Platform Binary Table".

Via /..

How much do you trust your computing platform?

Comment policy

We will not edit your comments. However, we may delete your comments, or cause them to be hidden behind another link, if we feel they detract from the conversation. Commercial plugs are fine, if they are relevant to the conversation, and if you don't try to pretend to be a consumer. Annoying endorsements will be deleted if you're lucky, if you're not a whole bunch of people smarter and more articulate than you will ridicule you, and we will leave such ridicule in place.

Flutterby™ is a trademark claimed by