HP talked about hacking computers through a printer cartridge

Representatives from HP spoke about hackers who have learned to hack printer cartridges. Wired reports this.

Media journalists referred to HP CEO Enrique Lores, who revealed a new danger from printers on CNBC. According to him, hackers can reprogram the cartridge chip to infect as many user computers as possible. In this regard, the top manager of the corporation called for using only original HP cartridges, which are supposedly more difficult to hack.

Lores cited a 2022 study by Actionable Intelligence on a new way to hack computers. However, HP admitted that there is no evidence that such attacks took place in real life.

Wired journalists suggested that in this way the company seeks to motivate consumers to buy only original cartridges. ArsTechnica experts interviewed by journalists said that even if such a method of attack exists, its organization will require a large amount of resources, which are usually not spent on ordinary consumers. “For a diligent hacker, there are many easier ways to penetrate a printer user’s network,” the experts noted.

In early January, HP was sued because its printers refused to work with third-party cartridges. The corporation was accused of “creating a monopoly in the secondary market for replacement cartridges” and demanded compensation in the amount of five million dollars.