39 113 617 | HP laptops found to have hidden keylogger, December 11, 2017

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42309371
http://archive.fo/Nw8BK

http://www.zdnet.com/article/keylogger-found-on-several-hp-laptops/
http://archive.fo/8fS1Z

Hidden software that can record every letter typed on a computer keyboard has been discovered pre-installed on hundreds of HP laptop models.  Security researcher Michael Myng found the keylogging code in software drivers preinstalled on HP laptops to make the keyboard work.  HP said more than 460 models of laptop were affected by the "potential security vulnerability".  It has issued a software patch for its customers to remove the keylogger.

617 is the 113th prime number

Mr Myng discovered the keylogger while inspecting Synaptics Touchpad software, to figure out how to control the keyboard backlight on an HP laptop. 

He said the keylogger was disabled by default, but an attacker with access to the computer could have enabled it to record what a user was typing. 

According to HP, it was originally built into the Synaptics software to help debug errors. It acknowledged that could lead to "loss of confidentiality" but it said neither Synaptics nor HP had access to customer data as a result of the flaw.

Backdoor built in technology is not a welcome theme, obviously. The reason being? Whoever has access through an alternate method, a back-door here in this case, will have access towards the rest therefore compromising and putting at risk the entire device etc.

Just look at Russia and Boeing. A while back ago, Putin withdrew all his orders from Boeing due to this invasive technology. 

Moral of story? Don't buy from HP.