Dodgy HP Comes Up With A New Trick To Try And Stop The Use Of Third Party Inks In Printers

HP is a technology Company that will do anything to screw more money from a consumer, who has purchased one of their printers, especially when it comes to ink, now the Company is trying to use cybersecurity concerns as a reason to charge users a subscription fee for ink.

Basically, HP does not want consumers to buy third party ink despite these inks working perfectly well in their printers. Instead, they want to charge almost double for HP ink and have moved to brick printers that consumers have inserted third party inks in the past.

Let’s not forget that this is a US PC Company who are already facing class action lawsuits after frustrated HP consumers took action against the Company claiming they were unaware that firmware updates sent to their HP printers between 2022 and early 2023 would negatively affect the functionality of the products due to using third-party ink cartridges.

In addition to monetary compensation, the lawsuit asks that HP refrain from deploying firmware updates that render consumers’ products useless.

The company’s CEO, Enrique Lores, recently tried to hose down the controversy surrounding HP’s latest practice of bricking printers that utilize third-party ink.

Lores explained to CNBC Television in the USA that third-party ink cartridges go against the Dynamic Security system engrained in many HP printers and can make the devices susceptible to viruses.

He failed to provide any evidence of consumers whose printers have been affected by a virus.

He also claimed that HP’s long-term goal is to create a printing subscription service that customers must buy into, noting that the company loses money with its hardware, but its software and services are profitable.“This is something we announced a few years ago that our goal was to reduce the number of what we call unprofitable customers,” Lores told CNBC Television. “Because every time a customer buys a printer, it’s an investment for us. We’re investing [in] that customer, and if this customer doesn’t print enough or doesn’t use our supplies, it’s a bad investment.”Basically, HP uses the Dynamic Security system in their ink cartridges, which allow HP printers to identify their companion accessories and here lies the problem.

HP is using this technology chips to disable printers from working through software updates when third-party ink cartridges are installed, according to several sources. Many consumers view this as being illegal and above all dishonest.

In response to Lores’ comments, the customizable laptop maker Framework joked on X (formerly Twitter), “We really, really don’t want to have to make a printer, but wow!

HP keep using the argument that research has shown that third-party ink cartridges can be a potential gateway for printers being infected with malware which observers claim is “pure bulls@*#The study, conducted by research firm Actionable Intelligence, demonstrated that HP’s Dynamic Security system blocked a printer from being hacked while bad actors overtook a printer with a third-party ink cartridge. The research found that malware still existed on the printer even when the infected cartridge was removed.

Ironically, they failed to identify any real-life consumers who had been affected.

When challenged admitted that the research was largely hypothetical.

, adding that even if such an attack happened, it would likely be aimed at high-profile victims due to the level of resources and skills it would require. Everyday consumers and businesses would be low on the threat list. Furthering the unlikelihood of such an attack, Ars Technica spoke to cybersecurity professionals via the social media platform Mastodon and Graham Sutherland, known as Polynomial, noted that the task HP has described is “wildly implausible even in a lab setting.”

As one observer said, “bugger the consumer, HP appears more interested in building a profitable ecosystem around its printer brand and less about actual security”.

Digital Trends reports that HP has faced and settled several prior lawsuits due to preventing functions on printers when customers aren’t using HP ink, having already paid millions of dollars. In addition to the most recent class action lawsuit, many have begun avoiding firmware updates to their printers and advising other users to do the same.