If the Lenovo Superfish security scandal back in February of 2015 wasn’t enough to force PC makers aware of software vulnerabilities from pre-installed factory software, Dell is now coming under fire after admitting that a support tool pre-installed on many of its consumer PCs contains a serious security flaw that experts say leaves users vulnerable to hacking and security threats. According to Dell, the “eDellRoot” certificate which contains the security flaw is not malware or adware. The software was designed as a “system service tag,” which would allow Dell’s online support team to quickly identify the model of the computer should customers need service help.
However, the flaw in the certificate that this software program uses can allow hackers to intercept your encrypted traffic . So potentially, criminally-minded hackers could hang out in hotel lobbies, coffee shops and airport lounges, and exploit the flaw through a silent man-in-the-middle attack, decrypting Wi-Fi communications without the knowledge of the victim.
Therefore, if a hacker exploited this flaw, they would be able to spy on your online activities without your knowledge which means they would be able to read your email or check out your online banking details when you log on.
Dell has not commented on how many or what models are affected by the security flaw. However, based on my research and according to reliable customer reports online, models including the XPS 15, Latitude E7450, Inspirion 5548, 5000, and 3647, along with the Precision M4800 seem to be affected.
If you go to Dell’s website at www.dell.ca and scroll down to the bottom or the page, click on the COMMUNITY link, you will notice on the community forms page, to the right under FEATURED CONTENT their response and further information regarding the eDellroot certificate vulnerability. Also too, if you go to www.dell.com/support/edellroot you will find further detail technical information on this issue along with ways to manually remove it.
Dell’s Security Certificate Debacle Sure Looks Familiar – Newsy
