HP has been found installing a spyware on its customers’ computers as part of windows update without user’s consent.
HP has been found installing a spyware on its customers’ computers as part of windows update without user’s consent.The software named HP Touchpoint Analytics Service is an updated version of HP Touchpoint Manager solution.There were numerous complaints registered in Reddit and HP’s own customer on this issue. Another issue which was reported is the software severely slow down their systems.
You may be interested in reading:HIDDEN COBRA -the North Korean Hackers are Still on Hunt!The software installs without asking any user permission and harvests telemetry information that is used by HP Touchpoint analytical services.It reportedly collects diagnostic based anonymous data every day and sends back to HP’s licensed cloud-based device as a service (Daas) services. However, according to HP, the data will not be collected by the company unless user grants permission.Below is one of the complaints registered by a user in HP’s forum:“On 11/18/2017 Hp Touchpoint Analytics Client was installed on my computer without my consent. I'm assuming it was installed in the background as an update to Hp support or framework. However it happened I don't appreciate it's sneaky take over of my computer's system resources. From yesterday to today it's been making my computer work so hard I can hear it like cranking away and the light in the back of my computer is flashing rapidly in-tune with the cranking. In Task Manager I can see it starting and stopping numerous applications, it's client service and installer, console window host, command prompts, timeout-pause command prompt, it's causing a lot of up and down use of antimalware service executable and local system.”HP has responded to issue in a statement that “ HP Touchpoint Analytics is a service we have offered since 2014 as part of HP Support Assistant. It anonymously collects diagnostic information about hardware performance. No data is shared with HP unless access is expressly granted. Customers can opt-out or uninstall the service at any time.”
They also added that in the recent update they were no changes made to the privacy setting of the software.It is still unclear how the software get installed but you can unistall the software using following steps easily.Steps to Remove the Software:You may be interested in reading:OSX.Proton Malware spread through Fake Symantec Blog
- In start menu select settings
- Select apps and features
- Select HP Touchpoint Manager and click uninstall to remove the software
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