Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital Trends
printer already have a repute for being a nuisance , but HP might be attempting to employ cybersecurity concerns as a reason to make things uncollectible , looping customer into corrupt a subscription service for ink .
The company ’s CEO , Enrique Lores , recently speak the controversy surrounding HP ’s late practice of bricking printer that utilize third - party ink . traditional knowledge explained toCNBC Televisionthat third - party ink cartridges go against the Dynamic Security system engrained in many HP printers and can make the equipment susceptible to viruses .
Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital Trends
He also explained that HP ’s farseeing - term goal is to create a printing subscription service that customers must buy into , observe that the society fall back money with its hardware , but its software and divine service are profitable .
“ This is something we announced a few years ago that our goal was to reduce the number of what we call unprofitable customer , ” Lores told CNBC Television . “ Because every time a client buys a printer , it ’s an investment for us . We ’re investing [ in ] that customer , and if this client does n’t print enough or does n’t practice our supplies , it ’s a bad investment funds . ”
discomfited HP consumers have already taken the class action cause route .
presently , the Dynamic Security organization includes chips or circuitry in the brand ’s ink cartridges , which allow HP printers to identify their companion accessories and work at optimum electrical capacity . HP has also used these chips to disable printers from working through software updates when third - party ink cartridges are installed , concord toArs Technica .
Frustrated HP consumershave already take the class activity suit route , claiming they were incognizant that firmware updates direct to their HP printers between 2022 and former 2023 would negatively affect the functionality of the product due to using third - political party ink cartridges . In summation to pecuniary compensation , the lawsuit asks that HP chorus from deploy microcode updates that render consumers ’ Cartesian product useless .
We really , really do n’t need to have to make a printer , but wow.https://t.co/csPXU7oRUK
& mdash ; Framework ( @FrameworkPuter)January 25 , 2024
HP argues that enquiry has demonstrate that third - company ink cartridges can be a potential gateway for printers being infected with malware . The study , conducted by research firm Actionable Intelligence , demonstrated that HP ’s Dynamic Security system lug a printing machine from being hacked while bad thespian overtook a pressman with a third - party ink pickup . The research find oneself that malware still exist on the printer even when the septic pickup was removed .
However , HP admitted that the research was largely hypothetical , adding that even if such an attack happened , it would likely be aimed at gamy - visibility victims due to the point of resources and skills it would require . Everyday consumer and business sector would be broken on the threat lean . advance the unlikelihood of such an attack , Ars Technica spoke to cybersecurity professional via the societal media political program Mastodon and Graham Sutherland , cognise as Polynomial , noted that the task HP has depict is “ wildly farfetched even in a lab setting . ”
Though bad actors are becoming increasingly craftier with their methods of attack , there seem to be simpler ways to cause surety threats , such as hacking unchecked computer software exposure .
For case , an April 2023 survey of enterprise routerssold secondhandto on-line resellers uncovered many of the devices were not factory reset and wipe of their data before being sold , making them a source of serious security fear .
The issue piece together that HP appears more interested in building a profitable ecosystem around its pressman sword and less about actual certificate . It take note that the brand began using its Dynamic Security system in 2016 , but its inquiry dates to 2022 . to boot , HPestablished a bug bounty program in 2020 , which has largely been aimed at identifying third - company cartridges , which it exact violate its intellectual holding ( IP ) and is another argument for bricking consumers ’ printers . While proclaiming that the brand can not guarantee the safety of third - party ink cartridges , the aim might be to nudge consumer toward using HP ink exclusively .
consumer have not claim well to the matter . The stigma hasfaced and settledseveral anterior lawsuits due to forestall functions on printers when customer are n’t using HP ink , having already paid millions of dollars . In addition to the most late class activity lawsuit , many have begun avoiding microcode updates to their printers and advise other users to do the same .
As noted by Ars Technica , while it might seem like a round-eyed result to debar printers from being bricked , it is also a challenge because these user might miss out on important updates that are actually lively for security .
