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.

73 points

Amazing how completely absurd things like this come out of their mouths and they expect people to believe it. Insulting is what it is. We’ve had an HP AIO printer for a decade + that is “bricked” because of their stupid DRM. I can’t even use the scanner because we have non-HP ink. Never gonna buy another HP product.

permalink
report
reply
28 points

That’s literally a crime. HP exceeded authorized access to your computer (specifically, the microcontroller in your printer) in order to damage it. I don’t know if the criminal complaint should be directed to the FBI or the FTC, but either way, you should file one.

permalink
report
parent
reply
21 points
*

You put the wrong thing in and they take away all functionality.

I, once again, am forced to ask…when do we start burning things?

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

HP is responsible for PC LOAD LETTER.

Never forget…

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

What are you complaining about? Those were the glory days of HP.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Honestly I think a lot of people are like me. Waiting for other people to start something.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

When will you start burning things? What - specifically - would it take?

I think that basically would be the same answer as your question.

Edit:. Sorry, looks like you probably had this conversation already. Half of the comments look deleted on my end .

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Honestly I already admitted it somewhere else. This is just me being chicken shit to fight the first match. But it will take is me being able to blend into a mob that’s already someplace.

permalink
report
parent
reply
39 points

So what they are saying is, their design is so terrible that a drm module can cause their printer to become a vulnerability on the network.

Or they are just lying for profits…

permalink
report
reply
2 points

Either way, they’ve already gone beyond any level of integrity I can support. I already wasn’t buying any HP products and will continue not doing so. What else can you do?

It unfortunate given their reputation of old. Current management is trying to milk any remnants of that reputation, but they’re not the same: just another scammy consumer products company with shitty products. Cross them off your list and let them fade. Always remember that sometime cheap or even free is just not worth it

permalink
report
parent
reply
30 points

What harm are they saying these “hackable” cartridges can even do? Brick the printers? So they are preemptively bricking the printers because… the hackers might… brick the printers? Makes sense! I expect better from corpo technobabble. This is just idiotic.

permalink
report
reply
15 points

Site won’t let me read the article, but if I remember correctly from another one of these threads, they’re saying that a hacked cartridge could be used to load malware onto the computer itself. If true, the printer itself is hilariously insecure, as are the drivers they provide.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points
*

Right? Instead of bricking the printer they can make their software secure. But we all know the reality is they want to punish anyone who dares to buy third party ink which is why they ignore vulnerabilities, and probably created them in the first place. Just a sad state of affairs. Part of me wants to believe consumers and even corporations will rebel against this obvious BS, but they’ll probably make bank.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Not saying it’s correct, but it would be an interesting way to make sure the printer you installed ink in had “upgraded” firmware. Make the ink carry the firmware and flash when installed…

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Especially since they sell brand new printers for the price of about 3 ink cartridges.

permalink
report
parent
reply
25 points

What if they DIDN’T have a chip in the ink cartridge, and just used it as a container that could be refilled and used in every printer they made? No hacking the cartridge then.

No, that’s crazy talk!

permalink
report
reply
7 points

No but see then you could get hacked through…uh…nanobots in the ink! Yeah. Real problem, totally possible, definitely happens.

permalink
report
parent
reply
25 points

Meanwhile, here in reality land:

People are downgrading their firmware to ancient versions likely containing old CVEs because fuck HP and their printer cartridge mafia.

permalink
report
reply
9 points

Why does the ink cartridge need to be so smart that it has CVEs?

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

The printer firmware, not the cartridge.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Ah my bad

permalink
report
parent
reply

Technology

!technology@lemmy.world

Create post

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


Community stats

  • 18K

    Monthly active users

  • 12K

    Posts

  • 553K

    Comments