Lenovo ThinkPad zero-day bypasses Windows security

iTnews (AUS) ^ | Jul 4 2016 6:41AM (AUS) | Juha Saarinen

[ConservativeMind]

Those features can all be done from within Windows.

No one needs to have the backdoor to the motherboard. Even BIOS upgrades can happen from in Windows.

[lquist1]

I’m sure glad I ran across this thread, I’ve been shopping for a new laptop and was leaning toward a Lenovo. I heard they were good because they don’t come with all that pre-installed garbage that just clutters your system.

I have two ASUS laptops now and I’ve been very happy with those. Had an HP before that which died after less than 3 years, so swore never to buy an HP again.

Can anyone here recommend a good brand for laptops from a security (and of course performance) standpoint?

[dayglored]

> Can anyone here recommend a good brand for laptops from a security (and of course performance) standpoint?

For Windows laptops I swear by Fujitsu Lifebooks. They've given me great performance, they rarely have problems, and I trust them. With an SSD as the system drive they're lightning fast.

The only other laptop I would buy would be an Apple MacBook Pro, and dual-boot it with Windows. Those laptops run Windows spectacularly well in my experience.

True, those are not your inexpensive brands or models. But that's my best answer from many years of experience. I watch and listen to other people who try to save a few bucks and end up with problems, or a machine that only lasts a couple years and falls apart. My Fujitsu is from 2010 and it's still running extremely well.

[Utilizer]

I’m not an expert in the matter, so all I can do is relate the experiences I have had in working with Support for several machines. As I stated previously, the vast majority of them were HP machines. Very few have died so far.

I have one laptop that I purchased back when the ‘doze wars were whether or not to upgrade from W2k to XP, with the majority of FReepers vowing to stay on 2k.

Now it is so many years later and that same laptop has never had a hiccup, never defaulted to the BSOD, and even the HDD that came with it is still chugging along with no indication of any bad sectors or difficulties accessing it.

Perhaps your experience was not typical?

I also have a couple of Dell laptops, refurbs, that I use on occasion, and they are still working well despite it being over 8 years since I purchased them and no problems so far. Of course, I am running Linux on them but I do not know that that would be a factor as far as hardware reliability is concerned. All I know is that they are all running well.

I have one ASUS machine, however, that has been nothing but a pain in the arse ever since the day I first acquired it. One problem after another and I finally gave up on it and set it aside to be reworked on some future date to see if it can be salvaged or if I just need to bite the bullet and begin harvesting it for parts.

So, for what it’s worth, I would tend to gravitate towards the HP offerings, despite the experience you describe.

Your Mileage May Vary...

Cheers!

[lquist1]

“So, for what it’s worth, I would tend to gravitate towards the HP offerings, despite the experience you describe.”

Thanks for the advice — my experience with HP could very well be an aberration. I should probably consider them as well since they’re in about the same price range as ASUS.

[goldstategop]

Lenovo Thinkpads are well-built.

IBM quality. I love mine.

[TChad]

I heard they were good because they don’t come with all that pre-installed garbage that just clutters your system.

Dells used to be horrible in that regard, but the company has cleaned up its act. I had to remove exactly no crapware from my last new XPS. I was amazed.

Nice laptops.

[topspinr]

‘Can anyone here recommend a good brand for laptops from a security (and of course performance) standpoint?’

Panasonic Toughbook

[raybbr]

Thanks fort ping.

Do you have a link to the info on how set up W10 to NOT send data, updates, etc.? I just installed W10 on an old HP and let it install overnight and forgot about turning those settings off.

Thanks

[rockrr]

Download and run this little tool: https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/

It will turn off as many of the telemetry options in one neat package as I think one is able. You can selectively undo features later if you decide you want or need them.

[raybbr]

Nice! Thanks.

[TChad]

I tried Spybot Anti-beacon but found it was using too much of my CPU.

Shut Up 10 has been better, easy to use and no performance hit:

https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

Note that with Shut Up 10, regular Windows updates may be blocked unless you specifically permit them. Review your settings carefully.

[raybbr]

Shut Up 10 has been better, easy to use and no performance hit:

Thanks, I used it and think it's better, too.