Windows Defender can remove Superfish and its root certificate from Lenovo notebooks

The controversial Superfish adware that was pre-installed on some Lenovo notebooks in the fall of 2014 can be removed with Microsoft's free Windows Defender program. It can also get rid of its root certificate, which has already been proven to be easily cracked by security researchers.

Learn more about malware and antivirus for Windows

Microsoft has apparently updated Windows Defender to detect Superfish as malware, according to security researchers such as Filippo Valsord who posted word about this development on his Twitter account. Superfish placed third-party ads on Google search results and websites for owners of the affected Lenovo notebooks.

Meanwhile, Lenovo has updated its own forum post on how to uninstall Superfish on its notebooks, including how to get rid of the root certificate. The PC maker has already stated that it stopped installing Superfish in its notebooks in January and it won't be placing the adware inside its PCs anymore.

Source: Filippo Valsord (Twitter)