Hewlett Packard, better known as HP, looks like it’s been in hot water once again. The American computer giant was previously accused of hiding a keylogger-type feature in its audio drivers. However, it was recently found that a keylogger was dormant in another piece of HP software. This time it’s the Synaptics touchpad driver, which is said to have the potential to be used as a keylogger. may cause a local loss of privacy. Therefore, we detail how to immediately protect yourself from any sudden attack.
The keylogger we’re talking about hasn’t been given any consideration by HP, which quietly released an update in November, but it’s potentially more dangerous than you might think. was the same reviewed by security researchers and they HP discovered keylogger hidden in keyboard driver. Researcher Michael Myng found it hidden when a friend asked him to change the HP keyboard backlight settings.
Also, the patch released earlier last month for the Synaptics touchpad driver has been found to be extremely problematic and has been identified as an issue that requires immediate action. The keylogger in question was found to be able to record scan codes but was disabled by default. HP was super quick upon the discovery of the keylogger and said it was actually a debug trace and immediately released an update to remove it.
Now, what is surprising is the fact that more than 460 HP laptop models are infected with this keylogger software. it’s possible currently disabled, but if a hacker or notorious person has physical access to your computerthey can gain administrator rights to the system and enable keylogger to store all future keystrokes. This could cause potential privacy issues for HP users, so we recommend that you fix the loopholes right now.
Steps to Uninstall Keylogger on HP Notebooks
The hardware manufacturer sent an update out of the door after hundreds of laptops were made aware of the secret existence of keyloggers. HP urges you to take immediate action to protect your privacy, but there is no need to panic. Simply follow the steps we describe below:
- First, you need to check if your HP laptop is affected. you should open this HP support document and Check if your HP device is listed. If yes, you need to download the patch for your device.
note: It can be difficult to search for your laptop’s model number in the long list of 460 devices, so we recommend using Ctrl+F to search for your device and download the patch to fix your Synaptic driver.
If you have a Pavilion series laptop, the model names in the list do not include the label in question, so just check it out. model number i.e. Pavilion 250 users can call HP 250 to find the right patch for their device.
2. After downloading the patch (size around 180MB – 200MB) using the link next to the model name of your HP laptop, open the setup wizard and follow the necessary steps to install the patch.
You won’t see any noticeable change in the frontend, but the patch should have removed the keylogger from your laptop. It won’t prompt you to reboot the system, but it’s a good precautionary step to do the same.
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Secure Privacy by Disabling Keylogger on HP Notebooks
While this may be seen as a serious omission on HP’s part, the American hardware manufacturer must be careful not to lose the trust of its users. It’s happened twice that the company has been found guilty of installing spyware and monitoring software, so it will need to check for software drivers added to their laptops. Besides, you should immediately download the patch and update the Synaptic driver to protect your system from unforeseen hijackings and privacy loopholes. Let us know in the comments below what you think about the misuse of user privacy and whether your laptop has been affected.
