Keyloggers: What Are They? Tracking All PC Users’ Activity With Keyloggers
by keystroke
We can’t imagine our daily lives without the Internet nowadays. Using the Internet, you can do anything you want without leaving home: learn, buy various things, manage bank accounts, and much more. It’s very convenient but risky. There are lots malicious threats in the Web, and your computer is vulnerable to them. Keyloggers are among such threats.
What is a keylogger? Generally speaking, it is a malicious software program, which records (logs) every keystroke you press and sends this info to the person who infected your PC with this software. It means that this software poses a great risk to you. To your information, to be exact - your identity (personal info) and wealth (banking data) are likely to be stolen using a keylogger.
Keylogging software record your keystrokes, which include usernames and passwords you type while accessing your bank accounts, as well as accounts in other websites like social media. As a result, you can lose your private information, which leads to identity theft and loss of money from your bank accounts.
Nevertheless, use of keyloggers is not all about cybercrime. There are cases when this software is used legitimately. For example, many companies apply special keylogging programs to monitor their employees’ activity at workplace.
Keyloggers themselves aren’t necessarily harmful to computers. They don’t infect machines with bitcoin miners, don’t cause malfunction of computer hardware. Their main aim is to monitor use of a computer. So, companies make use of keyloggers to monitor online behavior of their staff during working hours or unauthorized PC access. Also, parents use keyloggers to ensure that internet behavior of their children is safe for them.
Well, what purposes they could be legally used for?
Monitor PC Use by Personnel
With keyloggers, companies all over the world monitor what their employees do at the workplace. Are they using their time productively? What exactly they do on their Pcs when they are supposed to be working? Are they doing their tasks or just watching videos or communicating in social networks? Keyloggers help employers answer these questions and take appropriate measures if necessary.
Prevent Unauthorized Access to a PC
If you suspect someone of using your computer without your consent while you are away, keylogger may come in handy. It will also help if you suspect your PC of being hacked. Install a keylogger, and you will find out what is done on this machine and when. It will enable you to take measures and prevent such incidents in the future.
Monitor Online Behavior of Your Children
Cyberbullying, online predators… such threats make parents think of a means of protecting their kids when they are surfing the Web. Using a keylogger, you can monitor everything your son or daughter does on a PC. You will learn who your children chat with, whether they are bullied or not, what websites they visit, etc. It will help you spot problems and solve them in time.
Conclusion
As you see, a keylogger is a double-purpose software. It can be malicious if used with criminal intent, but it doesn’t mean that keyloggers are always malicious. You can well use keyloggers to protect your business and your children. As for keylogging malware, everybody should remember a few don’ts to stay safe from keyloggers and other malicious software. Don’t visit suspicious websites, don’t open suspicious links, don’t download suspicious files – and the odds of infecting your PC with keyloggers will be relatively low.
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