Dubbed “HP Touchpoint Analytics Service,” HP says it “collects telemetry information that is used by HP Touchpoint’s analytical services.” Apparently, it’s HP Touchpoint Analytics Client version 4.0.2.1435.
There are dozens of articles of this new, ahem, service spread all over the internet. According to Günter Born, reports of the spyware go all the way back to Nov. 15, when poster MML on News said:
After the modern batch of Windows updates, about a half hour after placing the last, I noticed that this had been fixed 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 inspection and battery test.
Thus showing the finger at this month’s Windows updates but that isn’t the only way it could be publishing. It isn’t clear to me if the new driver came bundled with the developed official Windows cumulative updates and/or Monthly Rollups and/or Security-only updates, or if it’s being downloaded by HP’s own HP Support Assistant systems. Regardless of the infection vector, lots of HP customers are angry. Rightfully so.
All of the statements I’ve seen so far indicate the point that HP (or Microsoft?) has established this “telemetry” program without telling customers or requesting permission to install.
The HP support site has many complaints, such as this one from PurplePassion22:
On 11/18/2017 Hp Touchpoint Analytics Client was connected to my computer without my consent. I’m pretending it was installed in the past as an update to Hp support or framework. However, it happened I don’t enjoy it’s sneaky take over of my computer’s system services. 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 quickly in-tune with the cranking. In Task Manager I can see it causing and stopping numerous applications, it’s client service and installer, console window host, command prompts, timeout-pause cmd prompt, it’s causing a lot of up and down the use of antimalware service executable in the system.
If HP has responded to its customers, I certainly haven’t seen anything.