How to Detect & Block a Keystroke Logger
By David Somerset
While keystroke loggers may have legitimate applications in some business settings, they are most often used by attackers to steal personal information from infected computers. A keystroke logger keeps a full record of every keystroke that is typed on your keyboard. These programs can be used to steal bank passwords, email passwords and other private information. You can detect the presence of a keystroke logger on your computer and block it from recording your data if you think you are being spied on.
Right-click on the Windows taskbar. Choose "Start Task Manager" from the options menu. Browse the list of running programs. Watch for anything with a name that looks like it could be a keystroke logger.
Run an anti-spyware scan of your computer. Remove any keyloggers that the spyware scan identifies. Ensure that you choose an anti-spyware program that contains blocking features as well; this will help to prevent additional keystroke loggers from being installed on your computer later.
Install an anti-keylogger. Allow the anti-keylogger to monitor all types of suspicious activity that is generally associated with keystroke logging programs; this includes keyboard hooks, screen captures and clipboard data recording. Note any suspicious programs that you do not recognize that perform these functions and block them from executing these tasks.
Run a software firewall on your PC. Force applications to ask for permission to send or receive data. Block any suspicious applications that try to send data across the network.
References
Warnings
- Some keyloggers can disguise themselves as familiar programs in the Task Manager and when accessing the network through your firewall. Always run anti-keylogger and anti-spyware programs in addition to trying to detect keystroke loggers on your own.
Writer Bio
David Somerset has been a writer intermittently for 11 years. He attended New Mexico Tech and earned a Bachelor of Science in technical communication in 2007. From being published in the "Bucksworth Community News" to writing how-to articles for eHow, his experience is quite diverse.