So you’re a privacy conscious individual. You have got 2-factor authentication on your accounts and you use a reputable VPN service. But what if there was something lurking in your computer all by itself that could spill all of your secrets in spite of your precautions. I’m of course talking about a keystroke logger or a keylogger. Keylogging is the nefarious action of recording the keys struck on a keyboard so that person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored. It can be used for legitimate purposes like parental monitoring or language research. Staying safe from keyloggers is essential for computer users nowadays. For that matter, contact Augusta Computer Experts GA. They are the best at providing computer protection services.
How Easy Is It For A Keylogger To Spy On You?
Keyloggers make it a child’s play to steal passwords and search history or even spy on emails on your significant other. Yikes! And because a keylogger’s principle of operation is so simple, they are easy to code, easy to deploy and easy to hide. Once you get infected often by clicking on a compromised link, software keyloggers can just live about anywhere. Be it operating inside a script on a web-page itself, injecting themselves into the memory space or even by posing as a rootkit.
Making matters worse, unless you see the keylogger in the background or in the notification tray it is really difficult to know if you have one installed. Defeating them can sometimes even require specialized anti-malware software that is designed to protect against login software. So you might want to consider that if you are really concerned that someone might be spying on you. While you are it you might want to check the back of your PC too. Fortunately, these are very easy to spot. Hardware keyloggers do also exist often as a dongle sitting between your keyboard cable and USB port on your computer.
These can be troublesome in situations where people might not be able to see the back of the PC. Like in a library or an office and depending on how valuable your work is. Even then, that won’t be enough. There have been cases of hardware key-loggers being embedded inside by a determined snoop. They are then either retrieved tirelessly using a transmitter or physically by going back and digging it back out later. It’s also even possible for key-loggers to sniff un-encrypted connections between a wireless keyboard and a PC. It does this to catch keystrokes out of the air. Now this is some real James Bond stuff right here.
Is The Sound Of Your Keyboard Keys Used In Key-logging?
It’s also possible to record the sounds that you make as you press each key. This fact can be used as each key sounds slightly different based on its position, to reconstruct what you typed. If that’s not crazy enough, security researchers have found that keyboards give off different frequencies of radio waves when different keys are pressed. It can even trigger smartphone accelerator strongly enough to discern different keystrokes if it’s sitting close enough to your keyboard.
Well, unless some spy agency is after you, your best bet is to just take a quick glance at your cable every now and then. If you are using a PC in a shared environment, run a good anti-malware software and as always stay away from shady links. With that said, keep your PCs always safe and secured with the help from Augusta Computer Experts. They are the best when it comes to computer protection and repairing services in Augusta GA.