eDellRoot: Dell PC affected by a big security flaw

After Superfish case that shook Lenovo earlier this year, it was the turn of another PC manufacturer to be caught in the turmoil. Dell is accused of having a certificate preinstalled on its PCs, which would take control of the machine by an attacker. Explanations.

Dell recently introduced the machines a trusted root certificate called eDellRoot. In theory, nothing extraordinary: this type of certificate generally used to establish a secure connection between a browser and a website and offer exclusive services accordingly (or advertising). But in the case eDellRoot, a major security flaw arises: if the encryption key is private, it is identical on all PCs. Using a small hack tool, a user is able to quickly decipher and disseminate the public key. Therefore, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to set up a false certificate on a site, and retrieve and various user information or launch malicious code on the PC in question.

To check if your machine is concerned, here are two methods to choose from:

1.      in the search field on Windows, enter the term certmgr.msc. Press enter. Deploy certificates as follows: Trusted Root Certification Authorities> Certificates. Under law, if you find a certificate named eDellRoot is that your machine is infected.
2.      visit this site and test your PC (on Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer or Edge, but not on Firefox).

Dell has officially acknowledged the problem on its website, without specifying which PC models were involved. But the threat was taken seriously enough for that manufacturer immediately publish a document explaining the procedure to uninstall eDellRoot. Dell also provides the simple withdrawal of the certificate on the next machine for sale.