HP CEO Says They Brick Printers That Use Third-Party Ink Because of … Hackers (www.wired.com)
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:00
https://lemmy.world/post/11170503

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.

#technology

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turbowafflz@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:07 next collapse

It’s always so sad to see how far HP has fallen. They used to be such an innovative company and produce so many good products but then they decided to not anymore.

jaybone@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:01 next collapse

I don’t know. They’ve been fucking up for a while now. At least back to the whole compaq mess.

HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 17:56 collapse

Their industrial 3D printers (multi jet fusion) revolutionized the market

eager_eagle@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:14 next collapse

more often than not, it’s in the name of security

henfredemars@infosec.pub on 25 Jan 2024 14:37 next collapse

But whose security?

eager_eagle@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:39 next collapse

the poor defenseless users, of course 🙏

SinningStromgald@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:58 collapse

Is “users” a new way of saying shareholders?

medicsofanarchy@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:51 collapse

Profits security.

Kyrgizion@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:54 collapse

Surely this actually cuts into their profits in the longer term? More and more people will simply refuse to buy HP hardware. If they don’t, they deserve to get grifted to high heavens and back at this point.

cm0002@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:19 collapse

If they actually bothered to care about the long term, a lot of these companies simply only care about near term and maybe maybe medium term profits

Hotdogman@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:17 collapse

Think of the kids… security.

RememberTheApollo@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:17 next collapse

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.

EdibleFriend@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:34 next collapse

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?

[deleted] on 25 Jan 2024 15:18 next collapse

.

EdibleFriend@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:20 collapse

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

[deleted] on 25 Jan 2024 15:22 collapse

.

EdibleFriend@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:35 collapse

The problem is it’s hard to get away with burning down a building unless you’re part of a large mob.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 25 Jan 2024 17:27 next collapse

thats because revolution takes time and preparation.

you should organize with you fellow proletariat if thats what you want.

EdibleFriend@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 17:43 collapse

I wont deny this is me being scared to light the first match lol

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 26 Jan 2024 01:25 collapse

it was already been lit.

join an organization near you

[deleted] on 25 Jan 2024 18:27 collapse

.

TotalFat@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:22 next collapse

HP is responsible for PC LOAD LETTER.

Never forget…

EdibleFriend@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:36 next collapse

THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS

MondayToFriday@lemmy.ca on 25 Jan 2024 16:19 collapse

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

ripcord@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 23:42 collapse

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 .

EdibleFriend@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 23:44 collapse

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.

grue@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:41 collapse

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.

ZeroCool@slrpnk.net on 25 Jan 2024 14:33 next collapse

HACK THE PLANET PRINTER INK CARTRIDGES!

grue@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:42 collapse

Username checks out

ManosTheHandsOfFate@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 14:37 next collapse

Oh (buy) Brother!

ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works on 25 Jan 2024 14:39 next collapse

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…

AA5B@lemmy.world on 29 Jan 2024 13:53 collapse

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

gedaliyah@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:03 next collapse

Wow, I really thought I broke the last printer I had at the office. Turns out it was HP. Too bad they replaced it with another HP.

foggy@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:34 next collapse

This makes me want to spread malware through HP printers

YeetPics@mander.xyz on 25 Jan 2024 18:48 collapse

Careful or they’ll hire you!

grue@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:44 next collapse

HP is doing what now?

Sounds to me like HP themselves are the hackers, exceeding authorized access in order to destroy people’s property. Prosecute HP!

wikibot@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 15:44 collapse

Here’s the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA) is a United States cybersecurity bill that was enacted in 1986 as an amendment to existing computer fraud law (18 U. S. C. § 1030), which had been included in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. Prior to computer-specific criminal laws, computer crimes were prosecuted as mail and wire fraud, but the applying law was often insufficient.

^to^ ^opt^ ^out^^,^ ^pm^ ^me^ ^‘optout’.^ ^article^ ^|^ ^about^

ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 16:27 next collapse

Oh. The ink is the issue. I see. My bad HP. I thought hackers hacked using software.

valen@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 16:43 next collapse

So the bricking is because there are chips in the ink cartridges. And why are there chips in the cartridges? Because HP wants to charge exorbitant rates for ink.

N0body@sh.itjust.works on 25 Jan 2024 17:10 next collapse

Makes perfect sense. Bill Gates puts Chinese 5G into third party printer ink. It’s used to activate the spikes in vaccinations.

HowManyNimons@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 18:43 collapse

What gives Space Lasers their bright pure red color?

extant@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 18:47 collapse

Thats actually a misunderstanding the lasers aren’t any brighter but the stuff they put in the chemtrails that makes the frogs gay adds a bright glow around the laser.

TurtleJoe@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 19:16 collapse

And the stuff they put in chemtrails are the original RNA packets that will change your DNA. The covid vaccine is what activates them.

(But seriously, pretty much every covid vaccine conspiracy is just the chemtrail conspiracy repackaged.)

extant@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 20:06 collapse

Why you gotta call out the psyops groups out there, you know how hard they’re already working. There’s no time for coming up with new campaigns when the old ones work so well.

1984@lemmy.today on 25 Jan 2024 18:09 next collapse

HP trying to pull a “Google” and say it’s all for our own protection. :)

CodeName@infosec.pub on 25 Jan 2024 19:04 next collapse

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.

VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 00:19 next collapse

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.

CodeName@infosec.pub on 26 Jan 2024 07:34 collapse

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.

ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works on 29 Jan 2024 15:43 collapse

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…

captainWhatsHisName@lemm.ee on 26 Jan 2024 15:17 collapse

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

yol@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 2024 23:09 next collapse

Imagine if they put engineers time and money into developing faster, lighter, printers or faster, easier to use scanners or next generation OCR software or some sort of enterprise printing solution that doesn’t make me want to throw up.

No. Physical DRM only.

Also, their laptops and business workstations have been quite bad in my experience.

wildcardology@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 03:09 next collapse

What kind of “experts” are they? I don’t know much about hacking but I call bullshit.

ikidd@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 03:19 next collapse

If there are viruses that can infect a printer from a grey market ink cartridge, 9:1 HP released it into the wild, on purpose. They already know how to write viruses, all of their printing software qualifies.

Grass@sh.itjust.works on 26 Jan 2024 07:35 next collapse

Some YouTuber said the only evidence if this was an hp document of their internal testing. So instead of fixing the security hole they monetize it.

Plopp@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 09:29 collapse

“Some youtuber”? Lol great source you have there. But yes, it’s been reported that it was HP’s lab that found what they concluded could somehow maybe be used as an attack vector. And other security experts have disagreed with that statement. Who knows.

(and yes I know the irony of me not providing any source at all)

el_abuelo@lemmy.ml on 26 Jan 2024 12:44 next collapse

That’s not irony, that’s hypocrisy.

Their source is better than your source. They at least indicated that it was word-of-mouth and didn’t try and present it as anything but that.

Plopp@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 2024 10:16 collapse

Maybe my communication was poor. Or maybe we have different definitions of hypocrisy. I never meant to claim my info to be of higher trustworthiness. Had I meant to do that I would have dug up my source, which would have been easy to do. Without source I’m just a rando commenting and I just wanted to highlight the humor in sourcing specifically “some youtuber”, which is the go-to source for crackpot theories (not YouTube, but poorly defined unknown random person on YouTube). My intention was not to be the bringer of the truth. I apologize for any confusion.

Grass@sh.itjust.works on 26 Jan 2024 16:37 collapse

When I watch YouTube I’m usually in total brain drain mode and details have to be really interesting to be remembered.

magnus@lemmy.ahall.se on 26 Jan 2024 10:38 next collapse

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!

ilinamorato@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 17:30 collapse

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

ICastFist@programming.dev on 26 Jan 2024 11:13 next collapse

“They’re hacking our profits!” - HP CEO

INeedMana@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 11:28 next collapse

I’m not big on gambling. But I feel I could bet that their software/firmware is so bad that someone could still hack the network via the bricked printer

Suavevillain@lemmy.world on 26 Jan 2024 12:22 next collapse

“We bricked your printer to protect you.”

Routhinator@startrek.website on 26 Jan 2024 13:32 next collapse

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.

sounddrill@linux.community on 26 Jan 2024 14:56 collapse

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

Routhinator@startrek.website on 27 Jan 2024 14:13 collapse

The printer firmware, not the cartridge.

sounddrill@linux.community on 27 Jan 2024 14:55 collapse

Ah my bad

AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee on 26 Jan 2024 17:14 next collapse

There is nothing quite like a company praying on the ignorance of people who don’t know that you can’t get a virus on your devices by using 3rd party ink. The ink itself cannot do anything on its own to harm your PC, as far as I’m aware.

max@feddit.nl on 26 Jan 2024 18:10 collapse

Well… turns out they have a serial connection from the printer to the cartridge, all in the name of DRM. And you could put nefarious things on the chip of the cartridge, which would then be able to connect to the computer through the printer. All because of them wanting to thwart third party cartridges, so a problem of their own making, basically.

Empricorn@feddit.nl on 27 Jan 2024 12:02 next collapse

Anybody saying they “protect against viruses” in 2024 is selling something to boomers.

Elderos@lemmings.world on 27 Jan 2024 14:20 collapse

Those are ink printers so this track.

Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 2024 13:49 collapse

You guys don’t use the printers that allow you to pour liquid ink in the tanks?