keylogger

borgman

dont need it no

Spank

In what respect? are you talking about 1 having a virus or the legal use of them?

paddyrg

Loggers are usually malware that you download by accident which then spy on your computer activity.

What are you trying to achieve? Don't trust the kids online? Put the PC in the Living Room, and/or use parental control software.

borgman

thanks for replies

Spank

To be legal you have to warn your employees that you are monitoring them.

Annisele

You want to monitor the office PC with a keylogger? What on earth do you suspect your employees of doing? Whatever it is, there's probably a better way to deal with it than installing keylogging software.

scotsbob

4 responses and none of them answer your question!

I have used both the plug in ones and software ones. Plug in are more easily detected but mean that you don't have to sit at the actual computer to check them.

Software ones are reliable and perfectly safe to use. Anyone who is computer savvy will detect them but in an office or work environment people don't usually log on every day and then check all the software.

I used on from Widestep Security but there are many others available and all serve the purpose.

fiddiwebb

scotsbob wrote: »

4 responses and none of them answer your question!

I have used both the plug in ones and software ones. Plug in are more easily detected but mean that you don't have to sit at the actual computer to check them.

Software ones are reliable and perfectly safe to use. Anyone who is computer savvy will detect them but in an office or work environment people don't usually log on every day and then check all the software.

I used on from Widestep Security but there are many others available and all serve the purpose.

4 responses and none of them answer your question.....

Maybe because of the legal issues concerned with using keyloggers, as Spank rightly said in his post you have to inform the user that you have installed an keylogger, assume you did as well Scotsbob?

QuackQuack_2

fiddiwebb wrote: »

4 responses and none of them answer your question.....

Maybe because of the legal issues concerned with using keyloggers, as Spank rightly said in his post you have to inform the user that you have installed an keylogger, assume you did as well Scotsbob?

To be fair, we are not really here to pass judgement and assume it would be used nefariously - but I understand the sentiment.

To answer the question I've used both software and hardware devices too. For the clued up both are easy to detect and defeat. I personally prefer the hardware type, but a good one will set you back around £50. The GENUINE (emphasis on the word) Keyshark range are pretty good, but there are a lot of eBay type imitations that are rubbish and can even destroy PS2/USB sockets on a machine.

A word of warning for those who try to steal passwords with them - you'll find many people keep a text file (I know, I know, it's stupid but they do) of passwords on a PC which they cut and paste. No keylogger will ever get them, like it won't get any other 'click' type activity for that matter, making them of limited worth in the first place.

Some of the software versions offer features like screen shotting and remote deployment but the reality of them is they tend to be a bit rubbish.

You'll also find some free ones out there, but beware, they are a popular target for malware authors - as is anything people try to install in a stealthy way disabling AV and Firewalls as they do so. You may just find your data is being shared with more people that just you!

There are probably better solutions to what you are trying to do, but you would need to come clean as to exactly what you want to 'snoop' and - to be fair - your reasons for wanting to do it, before you'll get much more help.

paddyrg

There are much better ways to monitor network activity and security in your absence (after all, key logger dumps make for very unexciting reading, just a load of text - and you will have one load per PC). As keylogging is pretty much by definition malware behaviour, you may also find that some antivirus products will alert staff when they see suspicious activity. Hardware ones are cheap and discrete, but you really do just get a wodge of characters.

You would probably be better off with something like
http://www.workexaminer.com/ (be aware I just plucked this link off a search engine, there are many similar solutions out there and I haven't used this one myself). This will monitor internet usage centrally, give you pretty graphs, visited sites, etc.
This raises a new question though - how do you plan to use the info? Think about it in advance, as opposed to a knee-jerk reaction when you get home and find facebook in the monitor logs (or whatever your worst fear is). If you worry people are slacking whilst you're on a break, well they probably will, a bit, but that's not unhealthy if the job is still getting finished. It will mean they're able to get back into it on your return.

This is why my post above asks what you wanted to achieve - keyloggers are only one tool, and it is a tool that is wrong for most jobs (like using a potato peeler to spread butter, what you need is a knife!)

scotsbob

fiddiwebb wrote: »

4 responses and none of them answer your question.....

Maybe because of the legal issues concerned with using keyloggers, as Spank rightly said in his post you have to inform the user that you have installed an keylogger, assume you did as well Scotsbob?

He didn't ask for legal advice or moral guidance, he asked a practical question.

Furthermore, I don't have to inform the user, I am legally entitled to install any software on my computer. This has been tested in UK law, do your research and you will see I am correct.