Keyloggers

While registering for on-line banking, I began wondering how easy it would be for someone to steal my account information. Without any actual experience as a hacker, I imagined I was one and thought of ways to steal personal information. I thought: if only I could record the keystrokes of a computer. I searched the internet and sure enough there are gadgets, hardware and software that enable one to record each and every keystroke. http://www.keyghost.com/ sells a device that attaches to a keyboard cable. Each stroke is recorded on this device and may be reviewed later on. Another device simply plugs into a USB port. And yet another is an invisible software running in the background secretly recording each key strike.

Though these companies market their products as innocuous and indeed helpful in say for instance recovering work in the event of a power failure (an occurrence which I have been privy to more times than I care to remember), those with not so well-minded intentions could employ these kinds of device to record the keystrokes of an unwitting public computer user and use the information gathered for malicious purposes. (Username and password will stand out in a series of keystrokes – they are like irrational interjections in an otherwise organized paragraph).

The easiest way to prevent this mode of security breach is to altogether avoid using public computers and ensure that your own computer is not used by anyone else. On the other hand, online banks (or other sites which require keying in of account information) could deploy a kind of visual point and click security system where keystrokes are not used. Though I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before identity thieves would just as easily devise a system for cracking this security protocol.

If you know of any other methods or tips to make online banking safer please do share by commenting on this entry. Thanks.

Ferdinand Manebo Entry #2