Beware of Key Tracker, Key Logger, Keystroke recorder, keystroke logger or Whatever

Just this morning I received an email, Warning me not to use the keyboard in public places because of the possibility of being hack in the future. Check this out below.

Dear All

Please take note that there is a new device in the market that is extremely dangerous if you are using PCs that is not yours in the public places like Internet Caf?, Airport, hotel business centers, etc. Some call it Key Tracker, Key Logger, Keystroke recorder, keystroke logger, etc.. Basically, it sits between key boards and PC. Hence, anything that you type using keyboard can be captured by the device. For instance, bank URL that you navigate to, the userid that follow, the password that follow, and bingo, catch you!!!

It comes with two flavors, one is the normal PS2 format and the other is USB format. In all cases, it is a small devices sitting in between the keyboard and your PC as shown. The storage generally leverages on the advanced flash file system for embedded devices. Some support 64 pages of keystrokes! Hence, you can imagine how much data this devices can capture.

At less than US$200, you can get the device. Hence, it is highly affordable to the mass market. The device is originally designed to spy on someone like parent may want to spy on what their kids done to the Internet like web sites they visit, etc. Employer attempts to spy on some of their employees. Etc. Now, someone has extended its usage further

What you could do to mitigate the risk,

If you intend to use a PC that is not yours (i.e. hotel business center, internet caf?, airport etc), you are advised to look at the back of the PC to see if one of these trackers has been placed in line.

Do not use keyboard of the public computer to enter your userid and password. You may however use the On-Screen Keyboard come with Windows XP (Go to Start-> Programs -> Accessories -> Accessibility -> On-Screen Keyboard). Using on-screen keyboard to enter text will bypass the device. However, it is quite cumbersome if you will to compose a story using the on-screen keyboard.

The best is trying not to use PCs in the public. Carry one always – be it using your Mobile Phone to read text email, PDA to connect to WiFi to read email, etc.

I think there is nothing wrong trying the above mentioned Tips in order to be safe. By the way it is only now that I knew about the On Screen Keyboard in XP. Nice tip huh. 🙂

Hope you like it. Be Safe always. 🙂