Keyloggers are are commonly a form of software (but can also be hardware) that are used to keep track of everything you type on your computer. Essentially every key you press is recorded to a file, which can be relayed over the internet to someone who can use the information gathered. Every e-mail you write, comment you post and password you type is recorded to a text file (normally along with the name of the application you had focus on at the time). Some keyloggers can also take screenshots and even short videos of your screen, so that they know exactly what you are doing and where you are typing your passwords.

As you can imagine, keyloggers are one of the most dangerous ways for someone to wreak havoc in your name. However, there are many ways to make sure that you never get infected with a keylogger, they are as follows:

  1. Download and install suitable anti-spyware and anti-virus software.
  2. Remember to run a full system scan on each of these at least once a fortnight.
  3. Be careful with what you download. Use your anti-virus' on-demand scan or an online file scanner to be super-safe.

Using an online file scanner is by far the best way to check a file because most of the online virus scanners use more than one engine to check for viruses or malware within your file. VirusTotal, for instance, currently uses 32 different engines to check your file.

I ran this scan on a file that I knew was malware, and as you can see only 40% of the engines actually found it to be harmful. Obviously, this shows that relying on a single anti-virus engine is not the best idea and that is why it is always good to have more than one engine installed on your computer at any one time.

I use the following anti-virus and anti-spyware programs to ensure that I am not infected.

  1. AVG Free Edition – free for home and non-commercial use: I use this as my main anti-virus application, because it runs in the background performing on-access scans (so that every time I read/write a file, it is checked for viruses) and uses very little processing. I used to use Symantec's Norton AntiVirus, but it was too bulky for a home operating system and could sometimes use more memory than a small game. You also have to buy a new CD or license every time they release a major update, which can get expensive.
  2. Ad-Aware Free – free for personal home use: This is my main anti-spyware engine, even though it has no on-access protection or automatic updates, unless you buy the full version. I update it manually and run a scan every week, if I remember.
  3. Spyware Doctor – free with the Google Pack: This does pretty much the same as Ad-Aware, but if you buy the full version you can have a live protection guard, which guards you from browser threats, cookie exploits, malicious files, ActiveX exploits, keyloggers, malicious changes to your network settings, malicious processes and notifies you of changes to your startup. On top of that you can also install an Anti-Virus engine which can scan for viruses as well as spyware.
  4. Windows Defender – free: Windows Defender is probably the program I use least out of all of the ones I have, it really doesn't seem to catch diddly-squat, but it does notify me when changes are made to startup and port forwarding.

If you use a public computer or a computer that can be used by others, look out for any hardware you didn't connect yourself. Many hardware keyloggers connect to either your USB or keyboard port, often between your computer and your keyboard cable. The device does all the recording and the "hacker" simply collects the device later on. Spyware detection software will most definitely not uncover these devices.