I seem to recall that they found pre-installed malware on Lenovo laptops" months back as well. "A study conducted by G Data, a Germany-based cyber security firm, confirmed that sample handsets found to have a malware installed in them increased 25 percent compared to this year's first quarter. Particularly, smartphones and tablets from Chinese brands Huawei, Xiaomi, and Lenovo were discovered to have apps modified to spy on its users or to insert ads......."Edit: A spokesperson from Xiaomi told Trak India that the malware is injected by a third-party supplier and not by the manufacturers themselves. "Unauthorized retailers can inject malware into any device bought from an unofficial channel. This is why we strongly recommend buying Mi phones only through authorised channels such as Mi.com, Flipkart, Amazon or Snapdeal." http://au.idigitaltimes.com/malware-fou ... nes-107190

Watch your security if you use a Huwaei range extender - the neighbours will 'jack one of those in a heartbeat and lock you out of it. I only use mine in full security whitelist mode. And that's bollocks about third-party suppliers, the Chinese government requires the manufacturers to "leave the backdoor open".

Easy way to get rid of Lenovo laptop malware: flash BIOS, reinstall OS. Done. Bonus points for not using Windows.

StroppyChops wrote:the Chinese government requires the manufacturers to "leave the backdoor open".

Unlike American or Russian hardware manufacturers... The NSA hijacks shippings of network equipment, sends them to themselves, inserts hardware backdoors and then ships them to their final destination. It is SOP for them. You can't patch hardware. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014 ... g-implant/

Thanks for that. I'm in the market. Now I don't have to rule out Lenovos and Thinkpads.

You should rule out Lenovo's latest ThinkPad line for their crappy mousepad imho. They've ruined it, it's all Appleish now. Yuck.