Keylogger prevention

[Spawn]

get some tools:

-whatsrunning: enhanced version of task manager that shows you more information about all processes and services that are running including path, owner, company etc. with edit capabilities

-spybot: not spybot itself but it has a small utility in the tray that will notify you if anything tries to install itself, vista has this capability as standard, but i will not recommend installing vista here..

-hijjack this, combined with the hijjack this forum, which will let experts look at all processes running in your setup and they can determine which processes are indeed not to nice.

google it for the links

[Amlin]

There is lots of tools to help yourself against hackers. Look there: Protect Yourself From Hackers...
But i wish to talk about particular problem: keyloggers. I`m not a pro in this so wanted to share info i found so far and maybe get more info from people who know more about this particular problem.
Edit: most of the programs and solutions are time-consuming and one of the reasons of this tread is some simple or not so simple method "what to do if you feel/have/suspect keylogger in your PC". I know that first thing to do is to change password, but how to do so if you have keylogger inside PC? Option: go to some other non-infected PC. But you must trust it more like your own, for obvious reasons. So i`m looking for fast method to change password relatively safely.

[aridash]

Originally Posted by JackFree

Won't a keylogger record what keys you punch regardless of the keyboard layout? I mean if you have a Z in you password it will be recorded by the keylogger no matter what key you actually press to get that character.

[...]
Ok I read the wiki and found this:

So I guess changing the keyboard layout could help. Of course the question arises that if the keylogger appication is "smart" enough, could it not detect your keyboard layout as well?

no, you were quite right in the first place. a keylogger will capture a string of ascii code which the attacker can then inject in to the password field (or even simply copy/paste). no need to type so no need to know what the keyboard layout or language or anything else is. who ever wrote the wiki clearly isnt qualified to do so.

the idea of typing and switching focus is interesting and would probably defeat simple loggers operated by simple hackers. more sophisticated software and operators would see through this (ie grab two or three entries and compare to find the true password, or simply read the completed input field when you press enter).

The ONLY defense is proper security and engage brain when online (tricky at 2 in morning after a few beers i know )

[Amlin]

wiki writer was right. Read that article again from beginning to the end. That article isnt about EU or smt, so it covers more that is related there. So one of keylogger type is hardware device. Or another that uses sounds... In these cases switching language WILL help.
EDIT: the only defense is knowledge, lots of knowledge and proper use of that knowledge.

[Gankoholic]

Originally Posted by Amlin

I know about computers a lot, but not in this particular sphere (keyloggers, viruses, hacking). But i know how computers work, and i understand that there is lots of types of keyloggers, changing language helps against the ones that record witch keys are pressed, not witch symbols are transferred to program. As i wrote before it may help, but may not aswell
About cathing keylogger itself there is much more ways than just manually doubleclick on renamed "server.exe".
Yes, as you maybe noticed i putted Gold Card as No. 1 keylogger prevention method. But if someone is paranoid enough or just doesnt have that card (or waiting for it) he/she may use other methods too. This is just info to let everyone KNOW about prevention possibilities. To avoid such accidents as "i ordered GC but didnt knowed that i may do something more like just to sit and pray to my AV/AC/FW/etc hoping keylogger wont get in/work for me"

..Yea but thats the easyest one and the others require real hacking ..that kind of hacking you got to jail for .. and its advanced stuff .One of it would be to use a trojan like subseven (its old used to be the best dont know whats good now ) but to operate that you would need a root ,*NIX language to operate the root, telnet knowledge + ipscanner and with all those it would work.Isnt that to much trouble for an account u dont even know if it has something on it or not ?
Another method i saw on a forum about 6-7 months ago is my inserting a malicious code into a picture ...i have no clue about how that is done and sounds like something from a movie but i heard is possible..

[sahel]

Changing keyboard layout might or might not work, imo it's way too much trouble for protecting yourself.
I'm satisfied with the thought that with my goldcard im fairly safe, and IF it gets attacked (there are ways), I'm guaranteed by MA. For the record, I never saw MA state this with so much words, but I am confident that if someone gets around your gc protection MA will give you their full support.

In general, just dont be stupid, run updated protection tools and OS, surf with your head not with your d*ck, or even run your browser sandboxed if you want (google sandboxie).

[Kerham]

I have an "exceptional" safe way of running my comp:

1. Fromatting and reinstalling every 5-6 months (Windows needs it anyway).

2. Uncheck the option "hide extensions" in folder options. Never ever open a file by double clicking.

3. Don't visit warez, free porn & co sites.

4. Don't click links from e-mails.

5. Use some AV and firewall, there are plenty of them, to prevent simple sniffers.

The vast majority of "hacks" I heard about here on EF were "I found this woman in EU which asked for msn id to give me naked pics" or "some friend sent me hoffinder.exe" And is not at all about protection, is about stupidity.

I am not a computer savvy, but I believe there are dudes able to bypass almost any kind of protection. Those dudes won't endanger their asses for a measly whatever account.

So a regular usage of computer, with average caution, like don't visit this or that and don't download this and that ain't a matter of advanced science of computers, is about common sense.

[Spawn]

Originally Posted by Kerham

I have an "exceptional" safe way of running my comp:

free porn

Now i suddenly get it!

[Legion]

Originally Posted by Amlin

wiki writer was right. Read that article again from beginning to the end. That article isnt about EU or smt, so it covers more that is related there. So one of keylogger type is hardware device. Or another that uses sounds... In these cases switching language WILL help.
EDIT: the only defense is knowledge, lots of knowledge and proper use of that knowledge.

And just WHO would you let attach some new hardware on your keyboard extension without you knowing it? Ie it's a hardware part so well if soemone wanna crawl into your house just to attach some hardware so he can get your pw to eu well ok.. there are easier ways to get it in that way.

[Amlin]

Peoples, Wiki article i was linking to is about ALL keyloggers, not the ones that we (EU players) are scared about. And one of types of keyloggers are physical keylogger. Even for us, EU players, it is a possible treat. As stated in that article it is possible to log keys by sound. If you use some voice chat program and at the moment of logging on your microphone is turned on then people may record your keyboard sounds and after enought key pressing records may decypher your username/password. In such case changing language would help, isnt? Read whole wiki article and think a bit please...