Since at least 2006, personal computers manufactured by Lenovo have been banned from being used to access classified government networks in the United States, as well as in Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

That revelation was first reported by Australia's Financial Review (AFR), which said the blanket ban on using Lenovo's equipment to access "secret" or "top secret" government networks stemmed from fears that the Chinese government may have altered the equipment's firmware or added back doors to the hardware to allow it to be monitored by its own espionage agencies.

Those fears started after Beijing-based Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computing division for $1.25 billion in 2005.

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