How to Test for a Keylogger

Some keyloggers are installed directly into your keyboard, undetectable from the outside.

Keystroke logging, or keylogging, is the process by which hardware and/or software is used to record the keys that are pressed on a keyboard without the end user's knowledge. This allows for the person who installed the keylogger to track the activity of the end-user and figure out passwords and usernames. Because they pose such a threat to security, detecting them is a top-priority task for anyone who uses a computer regularly. However, detecting some keyloggers can be difficult, as there are both hardware and software versions, and while hardware may not escape your notice, a software keylogger can operate as a background process, minimizing its risk of detection.

Instructions

Testing for Hardware Keyloggers

1. Check your computer's hardware from the navigation menu. Some hardware-based keyloggers cannot operate covertly enough, and display under the "Computer" or "My Computer" menu in Windows operating systems. If you see any USB or other device you don't recognize, check the drive it's supposed to be in and remove it.

2. Turn your computer's power off. If you attempt to sweep your computer for hardware keyloggers with the power on, you may damage it.

3. Inspect your computer's keyboard slots and USB slots. Hardware keyloggers are generally found between your computer's keyboard connection and the actual computer itself, acting as an adapter that records information the keyboard inputs when in use. These are easy to detect and should be visible immediately when you look at the keyboard port.

4. Take apart your keyboard. The other type of hardware keylogger records your keystrokes by being placed directly into your keyboard. By taking apart your keyboard, you stand a chance at finding a keylogger, but they are made to look like devices which belong in the hardware, so without experience you may overlook them.

5. Replace your keyboard with a new keyboard of the exact same type as your old keyboard. You can use this new keyboard as a control and compare the inner technology with your new keyboard. If you see any hardware on your old keyboard that's not on the one you just purchased, check it out by searching the model number and type of the hardware or take your keyboard to a specialist to identify the hardware.

Testing for Software Keyloggers

1. Open the Task Manager. You can right-click on the task bar and select Task Manager, or press "Ctrl," "Alt" and "Esc."

2. Click on the "Processes" tab from the main task manager menu. Take note of all of the processes that are running and research them all. Some processes may be familiar to you already, but double check the user name (it should be your user name or "System") and description to make sure it is the program you think it is and not an impostor.

3. Scan for keylogger software with anti-virus programs. Most anti-virus programs already have a built in vault of knowledge that will detect common keyloggers, in addition to other computer spyware, adware and viruses. Perform a weekly scan just to make sure your computer is safe.

4. Monitor your hard drive's file system. Using a software program, such as the free Process Monitor, check to see what processes and programs are accessing files. An unfamiliar program or process, or one that shouldn't be associated with the activity of opening files (such as PowerPoint) may be a keylogger.

5. Monitor your computer's network. In case you have not detected a keylogger by now, you still have one more method, and that's to monitor the network of your computer. Because the data gathered has to be transmitted back to the person who installed the keylogger on your system, the keylogger will eventually "phone home," or establish a connection to the installer of the keylogger and attempt to send the data. A network monitoring software can find out when this happens and prevent it, letting you know what program tried it and when.

References

• Top Bits: How to Remove a Keylogger
• Iron Geek: Hardware Key Logging Part 1: An Overview Of USB Hardware Keyloggers, And A Review Of The KeyCarbon USB Home Mini
• Refog: Hardware Keylogger
• Knowledge Sharing Communities: A Day in the Life of an Information Security Investigator
• Mac Keylogger Protection: How to Protect Your Mac From Keyloggers

Resources

• Process Monitor Download