There was a popular song in the 1980’s that said, “I keystrokes per hour feel like somebody’s watching me!” Well, that couldn’t be any truer than now because we are all always being watched. We pass hundreds of surveillance cameras everyday without even knowing. There’s even software that spies on cellphones using Bluetooth.
This article will cover the subject of Keystroke Loggers- What are and How you can keep safe. Who could be spying on you? Is it your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, kid or parent? Thankfully, after reading this article you will have the information and tools to detect and destroy keystroke loggers.
A keystroke logger is a software or sometimes a hardware piece of spy equipment that records every stroke you make on your keyboard. They can be disabled in several ways. The first form and most popular keystroke loggers are of the software variety, and can be detected by running a virus scan and by using anti-spy software.
Software keystroke recorders operate behind the scenes in your operating systems sub-processes, and the more advanced keystroke recording software can email everything you’ve typed to the person who installed it. Hardware keystroke loggers are less popular, but just as dangerous.
Hardware keystroke recorders are physically connected in between your keyboard and your computer, and all you need to do to check if you have one is to look around your computer for any kind of irregular device interfacing between your computer and keyboard.
Modern hardware keystroke recording devices are shaped just like your keyboard cord, and do not look out of place, so be very careful or you might overlook them. You can easily destroy hardware keystroke loggers by simply removing them. So, now we know how keystroke loggers are used, how to detect both forms of them, and how to destroy them.
Always Use Anti-virus Software
We know that these loggers have to be installed, but how do they get installed? Who has access to your computer? Anyone who has access to your computer can install one, so make sure that you have your computer password protected and that you limit access to it. Another way that keystroke recording software is secretly installed is via the Internet. Some web sites secretly install malicious software onto computers without the owner knowing, and some commercial keystroke loggers can be installed via an email attachment.
Be careful of what web sites you visit, what email attachments you open, and what you download. Invest in a strong anti-virus solution and install a firewall to protect your computer. You should also do regular and consistent virus scans of your computer, so that you can detect keystroke software before it has had time to collect a large amount of data on you.
Common sense and basic computer security protocol will go a long way at protecting you from this kind of malicious software. Use the information from this article to arm yourself with knowledge and know how.
