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The Keylogger and its Innovations

Keylogger, what is it? As the name suggest, it logs the key strokes. Still confusing? Wait…let me explain in detail.

When you type in using your keyboard, without your knowledge all your keystrokes are recorded with the help of a program that is running in the background of your system. This is called keylogger. Keystrokes recorded or logged in this way are then retrieved by the hacker secretly. Do you know why hackers attempt to log the keystrokes? Simple, they would like to get information like passwords that you used in the websites for e-mail communication or money transaction or any other information that proves vital to them.

Two types of keyloggers are available. They are software and hardware related keyloggers. Keyloggers that are software related are not complex like hardware-based keyloggers and at the same can be distributed and detected easily too. Want to know how a hardware-based keylogger works? Here you go… A small keylogger chip would be inserted or embedded inside the keyboard that you use. This chip contains a flash memory, which records all information that you type-in using the keyboard. Now-a-days, people encrypt the files to avoid critical and valuable information from being stolen. However, these keyloggers, which are considered to be one of the most powerful applications, defeat the purpose of encryption.

As the technology advances, keyloggers have also become advanced and thereby, detecting them has also become hard and tricky. You might use your system without knowing about keyloggers in your system for months or sometimes even years together. Keyloggers logs each and every keystroke of yours, right from usernames to passwords, any information like credit card numbers, bank account details, contacts, etc. With the help of this information, a hacker can steal your personal documents, money and sometimes your identity too. Hard to believe! However, this is the bitter truth.

Keylogger can either be a simple .exe or a .dll file. This is positioned in your system and when you boot your system, keyloggers get activated. Are you aware of how they activated? It is through an entry in the registry. Few sophisticated keyloggers include Prefect Keylogger or ProBot Activity Monitor. Read along to know what wicked and horrible abilities these sophisticated keyloggers have.

• Hidden in the process list and therefore cannot be seen during and operation

• Logged off from the system? Still, keystrokes can be logged using kernel keylogger

• Remote deployment wizard

• Capable of taking text snapshots of applications that are active

• http post data like log-ins/passwords can be captured

• Capable of tracing workstation usage

• Export of HTML and text log file

• E-mail log file can be delivered automatically

One of the encouraging or heartening facts is that keyloggers can also be used for legal purposes. You can use keyloggers to monitor websites that your children visit, that is, parental control over children. For example, prevention of child pornography. Let me give you an example where keylogger played an important role in cornering a defendant in a case, Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. He was accused for gambling, loan-sharing who has encrypted all the files in his computer. To prove him guilty, judge allowed the FBI to set a keylogger secretly. With the help of this keylogger, FBI gained accessed to the files they needed. In December 2001, federal court too ruled out saying that FBI does not require a special wiretap order for placing keyloggers.

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