The Keylogging Pioneers
Keyloggers or keylogging technology is not new at all and first surfaced as far back about 50 years ago in the 1970s when the Soviet Union spied on IBM electric typewriters used at various embassies in Moscow.
Spy Games
Those first keyloggers would collect the keystrokes and secretly send them back to Soviet Intelligence via radio signals. Keylogging, in its essence, is the same as it aims to collect private information in a clandestine fashion.
Privacy & Security
Our taps and keystrokes in this digital era encapsulate our daily lives, and they are closely tied to our PRIVACY and sometimes even digital and PHYSICAL SECURITY. In general, our private information could be used to spy on us and other people or organizations we are closely associated with.
Let’s delve into several aspects of keylogging and other privacy breaching malware or malicious web applications.
Cybercriminals
The information collected or better yet stolen by potential cyber criminals through keylogging is typically used to sell information to advertisers and steal passwords, leading to more personal data loss and massive breaches. Many reading this may not even know how to detect keylogger malware and other similar types of stealthy applications which could run in the background of your Windows 10, Android and even on ChromeOS devices.
How does one know that their devices are protected at they are not being spied on 24/7. How does one know that their basic right to privacy is still in place and that all their keystrokes or taps are logged on a remote server and viewed by complete strangers and often not the nicest people who do not have the nicest intentions in mind.
Many people not only are not aware that at any given time, but all of their activities could also be tracked and logged.
Let’s dive in a bit to the technical aspect of keyloggers and then some steps to take to prevent a keylogging app from penetrating our devices.
Types of Keyloggers
- Application-specific: This type of keylogger will only log keystrokes from specific targeted applications that the cyber spy may be interested in.
- Log everything: This type of keylogger will log every single keystroke on a given device.
- Work keylogger: These keyloggers are used to monitor employee activity on company furnished hardware.
- Hardware keylogger: This keylogger works at the hardware and collects the keystrokes even before they are processed by the operating system and applications.
Keylogger Data Collection
A keylogger can send or upload the data automatically in real-time on an ongoing or regular interval via email, FTP, or upload to a specific database. In some cases, especially in large-scale cyber-attacks. The attacker may already have access to the hacked device and manually collect all the data or the data they are interested in.
Keylogger Protection
With the plethora of different types of loggers and other privacy breaching applications, the first round of defense is knowledge and awareness, in addition to ensuring that top-notch anti-virus anti-malware solutions are installed. Reputable cyber security and cyber privacy companies with a proven track record and great reviews should be chosen. This is not an area you want to save money on as you may save now but potentially pay tenfold or 100 fold in the future, not only with money but also time.
