Lenovo's adware blunder, Telstra CEO quits, ex-Qualcomm director's insider trading

Telstra Chief Executive David Thodey will soon step down from his position, with the company’s CFO Andy Penn set to replace him, Fairfax has reported.

Penn will reportedly take over the role from 1 May.

Penn’s appointment leaves the position of CFO vacant. Fairfax’s sources indicated that the process to find Penn’s successor has not been finalised. The media outlet said that Telstra’s head of strategic finance, Cynthia Whelan, is considered by insiders to be the frontrunner for the CFO position.

Thodey’s departure may set into motion other changes in the executive ranks at the telco; Fairfax suggested that Penn’s appointment to CEO could result in some senior Telstra staff looking at taking CEO positions at other listed companies.

CommsDay has an interview piece with both Thodey, in which the outgoing CEO discusses the NBN, his conversations with government during his time as chief executive and more.

On the topic of closing Telstra’s NBN deal, Thodey is quoted as saying: “There were good moments and bad moments as we went through that; times when we felt we were making progress and times when we felt there wasn’t a solution, that we had to come back and be creative and innovative in finding ways through it. That’s what made it so satisfying to complete in the end - but also so challenging.”

Elsewhere, commentators are analysing Thodey’s run; the ABC has a particularly glowing piece, labelling Thodey “the antidote Telstra needed for the Sol Trujillo years”.

Thodey reportedly said he would stay on as an advisor at Telstra until August.

“I’m going to take a break with my wife but I’m very keen to contribute back to the business community in maybe non-executive roles both internationally and nationally,” Thodey is quoted as saying.

Lenovo apologises for Superfish

Lenovo has apologised for installing malware on its consumer laptops, according to The Guardian.

Lenovo reportedly admitted that between September and December last year, some of its laptops came with adware called Superfish pre-installed.

According to The Guardian, Lenovo initially said the software was included on the laptops “to enhance the experience for users”, but later changed its statement, removing that claim and apologising “for causing any concern to any users for any reason”.

Superfish is said to have launched pop-up adverts on the infected machines and injected ads into Google searches. But it also reportedly used a self-signed root certificate to inject adverts into encrypted websites, and this certificate made it possible for hackers to launch ‘man in the middle’ attacks on the infected machines, stealing sensitive information that users had thought encrypted.

Lenovo has provided instructions to help users remove Superfish from their machines, but these steps fail to completely eliminate the vulnerabilities the software introduces, The Guardian reported.

Various guides to detecting and removing the Superfish adware have emerged online. As always, use such third-party methods at your own risk.

Ex-Qualcomm director pleads guilty to insider trading

A former director at semiconductor company Qualcomm has pled guilty to insider trading, according to the Southern District of California Office of the US Attorney.

Derek Cohen admitted netting almost US$200,000 in illegal trading ahead of Qualcomm’s 2011 acquisition of semiconductor developer Atheros Communications, the attorney’s office said in a statement.

Cohen was a director in Qualcomm’s North America Sales Department at the time of the trades.

According to the attorney’s office, Cohen learned through his position at the company that Qualcomm was contemplating acquiring semiconductor developer Atheros. Over the course of a few hours, he purchased more than US$430,000 worth of stock and call options in Atheros.

The acquisition was later reported in the media and Atheros’s stock price increased. Later that month Cohen sold up and made an illegal profit of almost US$200,000.

By making the trades, Cohen took advantage of his inside information at the expense of ordinary shareholders, the attorney’s office said.

Cohen has agreed to forfeit the profit to the US as part of a plea agreement.

Cohen’s sentencing is scheduled for 22 May.

Image courtesy Karla Vanessa Redor under CC