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Gid Rid of Spyware on My System
KeyLoggers:
Can This Spyware Hurt You?
Keyloggers
are a form of spyware that tracks a person’s keystrokes
and then sends the information to someone
who can translate and exploit it. This can copy the keystrokes
on e-mail, instant messenger, and any other Internet activity.
The person collecting the information can get information such
as credit card numbers, user names and passwords, and more.
These handy little devices have been around for sometime but
the increase of spyware has brought them out to the front and
center. It is easy to infect a computer with this type of software
and very common. A user can easily go to the wrong web site
and get infected or someone can manually place this on the
computer, as well. There are three different types of keyloggers
that could be possibly plaguing you and your computer.
Hardware
keyloggers are small inline devices placed in between
the keyboard and computer. They are so extremely small that
they are very hard to detect and can unnoticed for long time
periods. This type of device requires that the person placing
the device be in physical contact with the computer. A family
member to see what is being done on the computer when not supervised
usually places this type of keylogger in a home. They are capable
of capturing passwords, user names, and other personal information.
This includes conversations via instant messenger and e-mails.
The software keylogger uses a hooking device to monitor all
keystrokes. It uses the Window function of SetWindowHookEx().
This type of program is installed via corrupted files on the
net or through other spyware techniques. Once downloaded into
the system they initiate the hook function and a DLL function
for logging. This software can capture almost every thing one
does on the computer. The third type of keylogger is the kernel/driver
one. This type gets its information directly from the keyboard.
It replaces the main software for tracking keystrokes. It can
be so cleverly programmed that it is almost completely undetectable.
It is executed on boot and starts before any user-level programs
start up. It cannot get auto-complete passwords like the other
types can.
Even though there are so many types of companies making keyloggers
out there today, they all are pretty much alike. Most of these
are well hidden in many trojans circulating the Internet. These
are the common hook type keyloggers. There are several features
that one can use to spy on any unsuspecting user. There is
the infamous stealth mode that has no icon to see that it is
working. This keylogger is virtually hidden from the person
being spied on. There is also remote installation. This attaches
the keylogger feature to other programs such as e-mail and
instant messenger. It can be sent via e-mail to be installed
on another computer. This feature is used to get the conversations
and information between more than one person. The last feature
that most have is the smart rename. This allows all the keylogger
and registry files to be renamed. This type of spyware can
be hard to detect. Most anti-virus software may not see this
device.
There are some ways to avoid accidentally downloading a keylogger
program or avoid being captured on one. Well if the program
figures out keyboard click it would make sense to use a virtual
keyboard for private use. This would be used for passwords
and other secure transfers of information. This is a keyboard
on the monitor that one would use the mouse to type with. No
clicks will be detected and transferred to remote computer.
This will not be practical for all applications because the
slow typing method. It is mostly used to put in passwords,
credit card numbers, and other private applications. Be aware
that some keyloggers can also track mouse clicks as well so
the virtual keyboard is not useful. You would want to make
sure that your virtual keyboard has a feature that allows you
to hover over the letter you want instead of clicking on it.
The best way to make sure you are keylogger free is manually
check your machine first. If there seems to be nothing physically
on the machine itself use an anti-spyware program to detect
the corrupt software.
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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