Your HP laptop may be quietly recording everything you are typing on your Hewlett-Packard (HP) keyboard.Thorsten Schroeder from the Switzerland-based security firm Modzero has found a built-in keylogger (MicTray64.exe or MicTray.exe) in an HP audio driver that record all your keystrokes.
A keylogger is a type of monitoring software (considered to be either software or spyware) that has the capability to record every keystroke you make to a log file, usually encrypted.
The issue, according to Schroeder, is that keystrokes are logged to a file in the C:\Users\Public\MicTray.log. Keystrokes are sent on to the OutputDebugString debugging API, allowing a process to reach the data via the MapViewOfFile function. This log file, which is located in the user’s public folder, contains a lot of sensitive information (user’s login with their passwords), which can be accessed by any user or 3rd party applications installed on the computer.
Are you affected or not?
Check the following files in your system, if they exist then you are affected by the keylogger:
C:\Windows\System32\MicTray64.exe
C:\Windows\System32\MicTray.exe
According to Modzero, the following systems are affected:
* HARDWARE PRODUCT MODEL(S):
HP EliteBook 820 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 828 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 840 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 848 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 850 G3 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 640 G2 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 650 G2 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 645 G2 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 655 G2 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 450 G3 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 430 G3 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 440 G3 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 446 G3 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 470 G3 Notebook PC
HP ProBook 455 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 725 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 745 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 755 G3 Notebook PC
HP EliteBook 1030 G1 Notebook PC
HP ZBook 15u G3 Mobile Workstation
HP Elite x2 1012 G1 Tablet
HP Elite x2 1012 G1 with Travel Keyboard
HP Elite x2 1012 G1 Advanced Keyboard
HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G3 Notebook PC
HP ZBook 17 G3 Mobile Workstation
HP ZBook 15 G3 Mobile Workstation
HP ZBook Studio G3 Mobile Workstation
HP EliteBook Folio G1 Notebook PC
* OPERATING SYSTEM(S):
Microsoft Windows 10 32
Microsoft Windows 10 64
Microsoft Windows 10 IOT Enterprise 32-Bit (x86)
Microsoft Windows 10 IOT Enterprise 64-Bit (x86)
Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise 32 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise 64 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic 32 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic 64 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter 32 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Edition
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Edition
Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 7 32
Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 7E 32-Bit
Modzero security firm recommends that you delete or rename the executable files (MicTray64.exe or MicTray.exe) and the MicTray.log log file from \Users\Public, so that no keystrokes are recorded anymore, until a fix becomes available
