Keylogger - what is it?

If you have caught a keylogger and are wondering what exactly that is, we will help you in this practical tip.

Keylogger: that's behind the malware

• A keylogger is a malware program that stores all entries on your keyboard and sends them to the attacker as a text file. This means that the user has all of your passwords, provided you have entered them using the keyboard.
• Keyloggers can be hidden in both software and hardware. The software is then malware.
• Software-based keyloggers can either be available directly on the PC or as a browser extension. Both can be removed with common antivirus programs such as Avira or Kaspersky.
• To integrate the keylogger into your hardware, the attacker must have direct access to your computer. So he installs a small bug-like device between your computer and the keyboard. The antivirus tools do not help here.

Many keyloggers can be easily handled using the on-screen keyboard. We will show you in another practical tip how you can use these for security under Windows 7.