Lenovo owns up to ‘Superfish’ with free virus protection software offer

By Krystle Vermes March 9, 2015

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Lenovo, which started shipping out computers with preloaded adware known as “Superfish” back in September 2014, is officially backtracking. The company is now offering six months of the McAfee LiveSafe Program free to Lenovo customers, or a free six-month extension to existing McAfee subscribers, who own a “Superfish” computer. This is in addition to the 30-day trial of the software, so new users can expect to acquire up to seven months of use.

“Superfish” is known to intercept HTTP and HTTPS communications to display targeted advertisements to users. Worse, it replaces the security certificates normally used by websites with its own security certificate, making it possible that hackers could compromise the false certificate and imposter secure websites. Lenovo, which had been calling the ads “helpful recommendations,” is now looking to make amends for the troublesome software.

Related: Lenovo’s CTO apologizes for Superfish debacle

Lenovo has posted a list of the systems that may have come with “Superfish” preloaded onto them:

G Series: G410, G510, G710, G40-70, G50-70, G40-30, G50-30, G40-45, G50-45
U Series: U330P, U430P, U330Touch, U430Touch, U530Touch
Y Series: Y430P, Y40-70, Y50-70
Z Series: Z40-75, Z50-75, Z40-70, Z50-70
S Series: S310, S410, S40-70, S415, S415 Touch, S20-30, S20-30 Touch
Flex Series: Flex 2 14D, Flex 2 15D, Flex 2 14, Flex 2 15, Flex 2 14(BTM), Flex 2 15(BTM), Flex 10
MIIX Series: MIIX 2-8, MIIX 2-10, MIIX 2-11
YOGA Series: YOGA 2 Pro-13, YOGA 2-13, YOGA 2-11BTM, YOGA 2-11HSW
E Series: E10-30

McAfee LiveSafe is a cross-device security solution designed to protect users from identify theft. Devices are protected from malware and viruses through LiveSafe. The free software offer is slated to go live by March 16, 2015, and Lenovo computers can learn more about registering for the free trial on the company website.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Krystle Vermes is a professional writer, blogger and podcaster with a background in both online and print journalism. Her…

Computing

Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain

Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Computing

I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close

Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Computing

How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams

Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.