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The company says it wants to protect you from “viruses.” Experts are skeptical.
Last Thursday, HP CEO Enrique Lores addressed the company's controversial practice of bricking printers when users load them with third-party ink. Speaking to CNBC Television, he said, "We have seen that you can embed viruses in the cartridges. Through the cartridge, [the virus can] go to the printer, [and then] from the printer, go to the network."
That frightening scenario could help explain why HP, which was hit this month with another lawsuit over its Dynamic Security system, insists on deploying it to printers.
To investigate, I turned to Ars Technica senior security editor Dan Goodin. He told me that he didn't know of any attacks actively used in the wild that are capable of using a cartridge to infect a printer.
Goodin also put the question to Mastodon, and cybersecurity professionals, many with expertise in embedded-device hacking, were decidedly skeptical.
www.wired.com
Last Thursday, HP CEO Enrique Lores addressed the company's controversial practice of bricking printers when users load them with third-party ink. Speaking to CNBC Television, he said, "We have seen that you can embed viruses in the cartridges. Through the cartridge, [the virus can] go to the printer, [and then] from the printer, go to the network."
That frightening scenario could help explain why HP, which was hit this month with another lawsuit over its Dynamic Security system, insists on deploying it to printers.
To investigate, I turned to Ars Technica senior security editor Dan Goodin. He told me that he didn't know of any attacks actively used in the wild that are capable of using a cartridge to infect a printer.
Goodin also put the question to Mastodon, and cybersecurity professionals, many with expertise in embedded-device hacking, were decidedly skeptical.
HP CEO Says They Brick Printers That Use Third-Party Ink Because of … Hackers
The company says it wants to protect you from “viruses.” Experts are skeptical.
