For anyone considering a laptop
Mar 31, 2011 6:20:44 GMT
Post by CharlieChomper on Mar 31, 2011 6:20:44 GMT
Normally, Samsung tends to stand out amongst the better manufacturers of most types of hardware products (monitors and printers, for example).
However, for anyone in the market for a laptop, you may want to hold off on considering them for that (and anyone who currently owns a Samsung laptop, you may want to really read over this and this).
The short of it is that it was discovered that Samsung had included, at least, two keyloggers on their laptops (they claim they were there to monitor system performances to report back to the manufacturer as well as to see how the laptops were being used and for what--without the consent of the users/owners of those laptops, much less their knowledge).
One of the issues people have been raising, aside from the obvious, has been that the keyloggers are also capturing things like user passwords and other personal user information and complaints over user privacy.
Initially, the company denied their existence, but they later admitted to having included them and why they were there. Since then, the company has remained mum on the subject.
So far, it remains unclear how to remove it and it's been found to be causing some scanning software for rootkits and other malware to freeze/lock-up (although, not all).
Also, under US law, following the Sony-BMG rootkit scandal with audio CDs (which is a situation that many were reminded of with this and is also referenced frequently in both articles because of the similarities in both cases) which prompted a new law to be enacted in 2007, what Samsung did is actually illegal.
This appears to apply to all Samsung-made laptops.
However, for anyone in the market for a laptop, you may want to hold off on considering them for that (and anyone who currently owns a Samsung laptop, you may want to really read over this and this).
The short of it is that it was discovered that Samsung had included, at least, two keyloggers on their laptops (they claim they were there to monitor system performances to report back to the manufacturer as well as to see how the laptops were being used and for what--without the consent of the users/owners of those laptops, much less their knowledge).
One of the issues people have been raising, aside from the obvious, has been that the keyloggers are also capturing things like user passwords and other personal user information and complaints over user privacy.
Initially, the company denied their existence, but they later admitted to having included them and why they were there. Since then, the company has remained mum on the subject.
So far, it remains unclear how to remove it and it's been found to be causing some scanning software for rootkits and other malware to freeze/lock-up (although, not all).
Also, under US law, following the Sony-BMG rootkit scandal with audio CDs (which is a situation that many were reminded of with this and is also referenced frequently in both articles because of the similarities in both cases) which prompted a new law to be enacted in 2007, what Samsung did is actually illegal.
This appears to apply to all Samsung-made laptops.
