His claims are quickly debunked in the article, as the true reason is, obviously, protecting their IP and subscription model

You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments View context
16 points

It wasn’t quite that; there was a buffer overflow in the code that was talking to the ink cartridge. So a malicious ink cartridge could in fact take over your printer. Of course, a web page you visit could in fact take over your browser and that’s a much more realistic threat vector, and somehow we’ve survived all this time without limiting ourselves to HP-sponsored and security-assured web pages with a healthy cut of profit going to HP from every visit.

permalink
report
parent
reply
15 points

in the code that was talking to the ink cartridge.

So the flaw is in the printer or driver, and HP has just admitted to shipping an insecure, nay negligently dangerous, product to consumers?

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

In the 90s, they shipped recovery CDs with viruses baked in. Knowingly shipping destructive code and hardware is kinda HP’s thing.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I’ve not heard about this. Does anyone have a link to share? Can’t find one myself

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

They all have flaws, that’s ostensibly why they also provide firmware updates. I think it’s likely their software team even fixed the original flaw while their make more money team extended it into locking down products even more.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

well that makes a bit more sense, thanks for clearing it up. Still stupid, but not as bad as I had been lead to believe.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Technology

!technology@beehaw.org

Create post

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community’s icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Community stats

  • 2.6K

    Monthly active users

  • 3.4K

    Posts

  • 82K

    Comments