15 Aug Lenovo problems, a back door!

For a while we have heard of really clever hacks. Things like USB memory devices that can implant bad stuff on our computers. Here’s a just-discovered scary one. Lenovo is apparently shipping their computers with a permanent back door giving them control over the machine configuration. It is called the “Lenovo Service Engine”.

It looks like this back door “feature” also provides prevents a clean install of the operating system since a hidden part of the BIOS boot firmware maintaining control of the operating system. If having Lenovo able to control your computer isn’t enough, a way for hackers to exploit this feature was recently disclosed. See on ZDNet.

The world of computers presents us with lots of tradeoffs. If the manufacturer isn’t able to help me fix problems, often requiring interaction with the machine, am I better off or not?

Yes, we have several Lenovo computers. I probably won’t be ordering any more right away, however.