Lawsuit cites HP should have warned users ahead of time, claiming the OEM’s prior knowledge of the firmware flaw. 
David Goldblatt has launched a class action complaint against printer manufacturer HP for “violations of the California consumers legal remedies act for injunctive relief” following claims from a team of University of Columbia researchers that some HP Laserjet printers will accept remote firmware updates, potentially leading to hacking attacks and can even set the printer on fire by overworking the printer’s fuser, reports Wired.
HP has previously refuted the claim, and cites numerous fail-safes that would prevent the printer combusting.
Goldblatt’s attorneys have argued that HP possessed prior knowledge of the flaw in a 2010 report commissioned by analyst firm Quocirca, highlighting a passage from the report detailing how “data can be intercepted and sent to a third party using a number of methods. Firmware on some printers could be modified to add this ability or other special features such as a network sniffer. This could be done by either uploading modified firmware or by modifying and replacing a chip on the printer’s circuit board”.
HP has declined to comment on the lawsuit, with HP spokesman Michael Thacker stating “we cannot provide any comment on pending litigation”.