Published in News

HP installing spyware driver on hardware

by on29 November 2017


Touchpoint Analytics Client reinvents giving.


HP, whose Christmas motto is "reinvent giving" has been installing a telemetry client on its customers’ computers — and it isn’t offering any warning, or asking permission.

 

The maker of printer ink which is hand-milked from the teats of a rare breed of squid which is why is it is so expensive [we are making that up] says it “harvests telemetry information that is used by HP Touchpoint’s analytical services”. Apparently, it’s HP Touchpoint Analytics Client version 4.0.2.1435.

Security expert Günter Born said that reports of the infection go all the way back to November 15, when poster MML on BleepingComputer said:

“After the latest batch of Windows updates, about a half hour after installing the last, I noticed that this had been installed on my computer because it showed up in the notes of my Kaspersky and that it opened the Windows Dump File verifier and ran a disk check and battery test.”

This seems to suggest that this month’s Windows updates are somehow involved in the spyware distribution. The new driver could have came bundled with the latest official Windows cumulative updates,  Monthly Rollups or Security only updates. It might even be downloaded by HP’s own HP Support Assistant routines.

What is wrong with it all is that HP has installed this “telemetry” program without advising customers or requesting permission to install.

The HP support site has numerous complaints. PurplePassion22 ranted:

“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 takeover 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 the use of antimalware service executable and local system.”

The official HP Touchpoint Manager website says: “The HP Touchpoint Manager technology is now being delivered as a part of HP Device as a Service (DaaS) Analytics and Proactive Management capabilities. Therefore, HP is discontinuing the self-managed HP Touchpoint Manager solution.”

Fortunately, it is not difficult to remove, but given that the courts take a dim view of installing programmes without permission, HP might need to expect a class action against it.

 

Last modified on 29 November 2017
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Read more about: