how to protect yourself against keyloggers

Just as you maintain your own health on a daily basis by eating well-balanced meals, getting plenty of rest and exercising, you must also maintain your computer or mobile device’s health. Some signs that you may have a keylogger on your device include: slower performance when web browsing, your mouse or keystrokes pause or don’t show up onscreen as what you are actually typing or if you receive error screens when loading graphics or web pages. Keyloggers can also be installed just by you visiting a website if that site is infected. Excluding cases where keyloggers are purchased and installed by a jealous spouse or partner, and the use of keyloggers by security services, keyloggers are installed on your system when you open a file attachment that you received via email, text message, P2P networks, instant message or social networks. Keyloggers spread in much the same way that other malicious programs spread. As a result, cybercriminals can get PIN codes and account numbers for your financial accounts, passwords to your email and social networking accounts and then use this information to take your money, steal your identity and possibly extort information and money from your friends and family.

Nevertheless, keyloggers can pose a serious threat to users, as they can be used to intercept passwords and other confidential information entered via the keyboard. Parents can monitor their children’s online activity or law enforcement may use it to analyze and track incidents linked to the use of personal computers, and employers can make sure their employees are working instead of surfing the web all day. This is usually done with malicious intent to collect your account information, credit card numbers, user names, passwords, and other private data. Whether it is called a keylogger, spyware or monitoring software, it can be the equivalent of digital surveillance, revealing every click and touch, every download and conversation.Ī keylogger (short for keystroke logger) is software that tracks or logs the keys struck on your keyboard, typically in a covert manner so that you don’t know that your actions are being monitored.

How to protect yourself against keyloggers