Usernames, Passwords and Espionage!

Are you concerned that you may fall victim to identity theft? You do not have to be a Chief Financial Officer to become a target. There are a few spyware tools in particular that professionals (and people with personal vendettas!) use to conduct espionage campaigns. The following is a summary of the things you should know about this spyware.• Hardware Keylogger – The hardware keylogger is an easy device to install. This small plastic object is commonly planted between the keyboard wire and the target computer. Once in place, the hardware keylogger stores all keypresses in its internal memory. At a time in the future, an individual will go back to the bugged computer and swap out the keylogger (with all typed info included!!!). There is no anti-spyware that can detect a hardware keylogger. • Hook-based Software Keylogger – Hook-based software keyloggers use the Windows function SetWindowsHookEx() to monitor all keystrokes (even auto-complete). This type of spyware can be installed manually (by someone with physical access to the machine) or installed accidentally (as part of a trick email or rogue program package). Sophisticated software keyloggers have the ability to send captured passwords to a spy via e-mail or FTP. Anti-spyware is available to block hook-based keyloggers. • Kernel-based Software Keylogger – Unlike hook-based, kernel-based keyloggers cannot be detected or disabled by any combative anti-spyware (because kernel-based spyware runs underneath the operating system). At kernel level they cannot detect auto-complete passwords. Other than this, kernel-based software keyloggers function very similarly to a hook-based software keyloggers.• Screen Capturing Device – The most fearsome of all spyware is the screen capturing device. Screen capturing devices take pictures of your computer screen on a given time interval. One picture every 30 seconds is a common time interval. Captured screenshots can be sent by e-mail or FTP. Sophisticated screen capturing devices come packaged with a keylogger. Installation is similar to the software keyloggers described above. Most screen capturing devices have a stealth mode feature. Identifying its presence on an infected machine can be extremely difficult.

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