What is a Keylogger

What is a Keylogger Software?

What is a keylogger?

A keylogger or simply keystroke logger is an application software or surveillance software which records keystrokes in order to get unauthenticated access to a computer. Keylogger stores the keystrokes in a file and sends it back to the receiver, when victim is connected to the internet.

Why use keylogger?

Keylogger can be used for various purposes it can be used to attack a user, to steal it account passwords, records of financial transactions or by large IT companies to tackle network and other technical problems. Families and business people use keyloggers to monitor network usage, without their user’s knowledge. It can also be used to monitor human interactions with computer.

Pros and Cons of a Keylogger

A keylogger can be used in various ways some would use it in negative way for instance to record personal transactions and some would use it to monitor their user’s interactions with computer. Following are the main pros and cons of a keylogger

Pros        &  Cons                                                                                                                                 

•   Monitor Network Usage                              
•   Ensure security of People especially by security agencies using keyloggers
•   Record Financial Transactions covertly
•   Steal personal passwords
• Monitor human interactions
•   Personal Data is uploaded to a website unknowingly.
•   Can enable remote login to the local machine from web.

Keyloggers (Software-Based)

Most of viral Keylogging techniques are given bellow:

•  Memory Injection: In this logging a hardware device is connected to your system which accesses directly into memory. The technique is generally use to bypass UAC (User Access Controls).
• JavaScript Keylogging: A malicious script tag is added to webpage which listens to key events such as document.write()
•   Form Grab Keylogging: This type of keylogger grabs data entered into forms <forms>--</forms> tags from webpages.
• Kernel Keylogging: software which resides in the kernel of OS and intercepts the keystrokes that pass through kernel. These keyloggers are the most difficult to detect keyloggers because they reside in kernel which a user barely knows.

Fight Back (Countermeasures)

• On-Screen-keyboard: Counter measures are not specific, means there effectiveness varies because there are different techniques of Keylogging. Every technique requires a different counter measure. In case of win10, win 8 or win7 windows on screen keyboard is a counter measure to avoid keyloggers but it cannot defeat all the keyloggers such as kernel based and screenloggers. 
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•  Anti keylogger: An anti-keylogger is a type of software designed to detect keyloggers. These software have the ability to immobilize hidden keystroke loggers. It scans all the files of computer against a database of keyloggers looking for similarities which might signal the presence of a keylogger.
• Live CD: A live CD (live CD or live Discs contains a complete bootable installation of operating system which runs from CD-ROM not from the hard disk). If bootable CD is clean of viruses and is updated patch then it will upgrade your system files and remove old ones.
•  Anti-Virus: Most of the antiviruses are designed to clean software based keyloggers however some of anti-virus programs are unable to detect them because keylogger is  legitimate software code
•  Speech Recognition: Speech-text-Recognition can also be used to avoid keyloggers. They convert your voice into text without touching any key button.
• Hand Writing Recognition: Stylus movements are also very fruitful in immobilizing keyloggers. Light pens are also suitable.

 A keylogger example of a screen capture, which holds potentially confidential and private information. The image below holds the corresponding keylogger text result.

 A log file from a software-based keylogger, based on the screen capture above.