WinSession Logger Review
A keylogger with basic features and parental control functions. Recommended for home monitoring and parental control (however only one side of chat conversations is being recorded). Available in 2 languages. In our testing, it gets 485 out of possible 1172 points.New version of WinSession Logger now logs the printer queue and can be installed remotely.
WARNING! This keylogger contains tools for binding itself to other executable files! Please note that its use may violate local, state or federal law.
Advantages:
- Multi-OS support
- Good URLs interception
- Great visual surveillance
- Good log transfer options
Disadvantages:
- Very weak file activity monitoring
- One side interception in messengers
- Not enough stealthiness level
During the installation of WinSession Logger we pass through the following windows: Welcome → EULA → Select Destination Location → Select Additional Tasks (where we can set an installer to create a Desktop and Quick Launch icons) → Ready to Install → Activate your License if you have one (where we can activate the license or choose to run the trial version) → Finish (having "Launch Viewer and Config. of W.S.L", "Hide autorun of W.S.L" and "View readme.txt" checkboxes).
The interface of WinSession Logger Log Viewer is divided into few sections: a ribbon with basic keylogger's actions, Logs Explorer column, and the main window, containing the intercepted information. Logs Explorer itself is divided into two windows: the upper one, containing 6 categories of intercepted information, and the lower one, showing the previews of screenshots. Everything is pretty well organized, yet two things leave bad impression. The first one is a screenshot viewer that launches once you double click the name of the screenshot in the main keylogger's menu. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any navigation controls, so it took us some time to figure out that double mouse click fits the screenshot to the resolution of your screen, while the navigation between the screenshots is performed by Up and Down keyboard arrows. The second thing we didn't like is the entire look of the interface — it is very outdated.
The interface of WinSession Logger Configuration Tool has the same strengths and weaknesses as the Log Viewer: smart grouping of information that is united into tabs here, and an impression of an outdated interface.
There is not much that we can say about operating systems WinSession Logger supports. It works in all of those, present in our testing, except Windows 8.
"Security" section is the most contradictory one for WinSession Logger. First of all its configuration tool can't be accessed by typing the keyword or hitting the hotkey combination, yet both these actions allow the user to start monitoring. The second thing is a so-called "Packer". This tool allows the user of WinSession Logger to bind it to another executable file to be sent to a target PC. On the one hand, the executable file requires administrative privileges to install the keylogger and thus can't be used for stealing of sensitive information. Moreover, its developers clearly state that their keylogger should not be used for illegal actions. On the other one, if a keylogger is not intended for secret installation, then why should one bind it to another file, thus creating a Trojan? We do not have an answer to this question, yet strongly recommend you to make sure you are not violating the law using this keylogger. As for the rest, WinSession Logger can be protected with a password and allows its user not only to show the warning message to the user being monitored, but also to edit it. Unfortunately, its folder is not hidden. By the way, the version of WinSession Logger created with "Packer" can be configured to stop monitoring after a pre-specified number of days.
As for the monitoring, WinSession Logger logs both keychars and systems keys, opening of files, clipboard content, started applications and printed documents. It also provides its user with the maximum options present in our testing realted to the visual surveillance. Unfortunately, it doesn't log the rest of the operations with files present in our testing, system log on/off time, inactivity time, logon password and sounds. It does record the mouse clicks, but the form the information is presented in log files doesn't allow us to understand the mouse button the element was clicked with.
Our tests of WinSession Logger in "Online Monitoring" section show that using it for logging the visited URLs is a smart choice. WinSession Logger logs all the websites visited in all the browsers listed in our testing, except Safari. It also can be configured to make screenshots every time a new web page is visited. Unfortunately, the keylogger doesn't log neither sent, nor the received emails. It also fails to intercept both sides of chat conversations made in all the messengers present in our testing.
WinSession Logger can deliver you the log-files by email, FTP or LAN. It also allows you to perform a search in log-files and create a list of users that should be monitored in case the PC has more than one user. Unfortunately, the same feature can't be applied to the list of programs. Moreover, the keylogger can't clear the log-files automatically and doesn't show you the duration of logged events.
As for the "Other" section, WinSession Logger has much to boast: it can react to a pre-specified list of keywords, block both websites and applications and is available not in English only, but also in Spanish. Unfortunately, it can't be configured to work on schedule.
Summing up we can say that despite WinSession Logger lacks some useful features and has and outdated interface, its functionality makes it a good choice for parental control and home monitoring. It also has a tool for remote installation, but the absence of many features that are important for employee monitoring doesn't allow us to recommend it for use in corporations.
Review by Keylogger.Org Team
Monitoring Software Features
Reports the group that basically analyzes the convenience of the intercepted information reading, including not only the ways to filter and show it, but also to deliver it remotely.
