Browser Vulnerability to Superfish: A Fact-Finding Trip to Best Buy [pdf]
While this whole Superfish/Lenovo thing is certainly quite scary, let's not forget the very important fact that, currently, the user ultimately still has the ability to modify the software on the machines he/she owns, which includes among other things (un)installing software like Superfish, and also adding/removing trusted certificates. There will be those who advocate locking down the certificate stores and other areas of the OS (e.g. only "approved" software can be installed) in an effort to prevent companies from doing things like this, but I think that could lead to an even worse situation - imagine if this was preinstalled on a locked-down system that made it nearly impossible to remove (or perhaps even discover!)To put it bluntly, I'd still prefer to buy a system "infected" with Superfish but which lets me reinstall the OS and configure it however I choose, than one which is locked-down so much that, even if such malware was not present initially, if something similarly undesirable is eventually installed by default, it would be nearly impossible to remove. Of course buying an open system that has no malware/adware preinstalled is even better, but given the way things seem to be going with "smart TVs" adding ads and whatnot, it feels like that might not be an option in the future.