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| Lenovo offers tool to remove hidden adware 'Superfish' | Lenovo offers tool to remove hidden adware 'Superfish' |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Chinese computer maker Lenovo is offering customers a tool to help them remove pre-installed software that experts warned was a security risk. | Chinese computer maker Lenovo is offering customers a tool to help them remove pre-installed software that experts warned was a security risk. |
| The Superfish adware program - which offered shopping tips - was shipped on some of the companies notebook devices. | The Superfish adware program - which offered shopping tips - was shipped on some of the companies notebook devices. |
| Lenovo said on Thursday it had disabled it because of customer complaints. | Lenovo said on Thursday it had disabled it because of customer complaints. |
| But a later statement said the company was also aware of a security risks about the software, and the company was "focused on fixing it". | But a later statement said the company was also aware of a security risks about the software, and the company was "focused on fixing it". |
| "We apologise for causing these concerns among our users - we are learning from this experience and will use it to improve what we do and how we do it in the future," the company said. | "We apologise for causing these concerns among our users - we are learning from this experience and will use it to improve what we do and how we do it in the future," the company said. |
| Lenovo said it had acted "swiftly and decisively" and that users could download a patch to remove Superfish. | Lenovo said it had acted "swiftly and decisively" and that users could download a patch to remove Superfish. |
| Superfish was designed to help users find products by visually analysing images on the web to find the cheapest ones. | Superfish was designed to help users find products by visually analysing images on the web to find the cheapest ones. |
| Users had initially complained about intrusive pop-up ads appearing on their browsers. | Users had initially complained about intrusive pop-up ads appearing on their browsers. |
| Computer experts later warned that the software was potentially compromising their security. | Computer experts later warned that the software was potentially compromising their security. |
| Superfish appears to work by substituting its own security key for the encryption certificates used by many websites. | Superfish appears to work by substituting its own security key for the encryption certificates used by many websites. |
| This would allow it - or anyone who hacked Superfish - to collect data over secure web connections. | This would allow it - or anyone who hacked Superfish - to collect data over secure web connections. |