Do you own an HP Laptop or work on it in your office…? If yes, then all your key logs may have been recorded by remote hackers by now.
Computer Security Expert Michael Myng is the first guy to expose the security flaw and argues that the technology used by cybercriminals to gather sensitive info comes pre-installed on a range of laptops sold by the said brand.
Cybersecurity Insiders has learned that 100’s of models of Notebooks sold by the renowned HP Brand contain keystroke logging software, which records everything that the user types on the device’s keyboard manually.
And although the keyboard is disabled by default, hackers could use it to access private details like passwords and pin numbers without the user’s knowledge by resetting the registry value.
Myng suggests that the keystrokes recording software is believed to have affected 475 models of HP laptops, including Elitebook, ProBook, ZBook, Envy and Pavilion variants the most.
It is said that the flaw lies in the Synaptics Touchpad Software, which controls touchpad user interface and was actually designed to technically track and repair any bugs on an automated note.
Note 1- In May this year, Swiss Computer Security Consultancy ModZero also brought this issue into the limelight by disclosing that 28 models of HP laptops come with keylogging software which is pre-installed. But the issue died down after HP failed to react.
Note 2- Keylogger is software that records the keystrokes made by the user on a pinpad or a text doc. Generally, hackers capture these details and harvest them on spreadsheets to analyze and further exploit if/when needed.
Note 3- On learning about the flaw, HP has acknowledged the issue by creating a website that lets users check if their laptop is at risk.
