SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A little-known Silicon Valley startup was caught in a firestorm of criticism this week for making software that exposed Lenovo laptop users to hackers bent on stealing personal information. But Superfish Inc. has also won praise for producing visual search technology that many see as the next big thing in online shopping.
Is Superfish an Internet pioneer or a computer-user’s privacy nightmare?
Either way, don’t expect a mea culpa. Faced with a withering publicity barrage that could jeopardize any startup’s future, Superfish CEO Adi Pinhas blamed another company for the security flaw and complained about what he called “false and misleading statements made by some media commentators and bloggers.”
Researchers revealed Thursday that some laptops sold by China’s Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker, had a security flaw that could let hackers impersonate shopping, banking and other websites and steal users’ credit card numbers and other personal data.
Lenovo has since apologized for pre-loading the computers with Superfish’s visual search software, which captures images that users view online, such as a sofa or pair of shoes, and then shows them ads for similar products. By itself, the image recognition algorithm might not be a security risk. But the problem arose because Superfish used software from another company that can eavesdrop when Internet users visit secure or encrypted websites.