Lenovo Sued Over Superfish Adware

Not surprisingly, the controversy over Lenovo installing Superfish adware into its consumer PCs has resulted in a lawsuit.

According to the suit, filed in California district court, San Diego-based Jessica Bennett purchased a Lenovo Yoga 2 laptop in late 2014, and quickly noticed unwanted pop-ups.

Bennett "was writing a blog post for a client when she noticed spam advertisements involving scantily clad women appearing on her client's website," prompting her to ask her client if their site had been hacked. Later, however, she saw the same ads on a different, well-known website, and realized that the problem was with her PC.

The suit is seeking class-action status for affected Lenovo laptop owners. Though Lenovo said it only installed Superfish on PCs sold between September and December 2014, the suit wants to include anyone who bought a Lenovo PC dating back to Jan. 1, 2012.

According to the suit, Lenovo's move violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act, Federal Wiretap Act, as well as California trespass and unfair competition statutes.

Superfish uses a man-in-the-middle certificate to insert ads into Web browsers. But it also opens the door to third-party access of a user's browser data, according to security researchers.

Lenovo is no longer adding Superfish to its consumer PCs, but those who purchased one during the holiday season might have it on their machine. To get rid of it, check out How to Remove Superfish From Your Lenovo PC.

Also see Lenovo's Worst Superfish Sin? Getting Caught.