Lenovo exec apologizes for preinstalled adware

The company has changed its tune in light of accusations its computers come loaded with software that serves up ads with scantily clad women.

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Lenovo’s chief technology officer is apologizing this week for a decision the company made to ship all of its notebook computers with adware called Superfish.

The adware allows you to get “spam advertisements involving scantily clad women,” according to a class-action lawsuit that was filed in federal courts. Several experts have also noted that Superfish leaves computers vulnerable to attack from hackers.

The company’s CTO, Peter Hortensius, initially characterized the backlash as “theoretical concerns” in a Wall Street Journal story last week. “We have no insight that anything nefarious has occurred,” he told the paper.

Hortensius was singing a distinctly different tune Monday.

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