Keylogger

From Saferpedia

Example of keylogger

A keylogger is a software that records and realizes a log of pressed keys on the keyboard. The keylogger is usually hidden so the person using the computer and the keyboard doesn't know about the keylogger.

Keyloggers are software, designed to work on the target operating system. From a technical perspective there are five categories:

Hypervisor - based: The keylogger can theoretically reside in a malware hypervisor running underneath the operating system, which remains untouched. It effectively becomes a virtual machine. Blue Pill is a conceptual example;

Kernel based: This method is difficult both to write and to combat. Such keyloggers reside at the kernel level and are thus difficult to detect, especially for user-mode applications. They are frequently implemented as rootkits that subvert the operating system kernel and gain unauthorized access to the hardware, making them very powerful. A keylogger using this method can act as a keyboard driver for example, and thus gain access to any information typed on the keyboard as it goes to the operating system;

API-based: These keyloggers hook keyboard APIs; the operating system then notifies the keylogger each time a key is pressed and the keylogger simply records it. APIs such as GetAsyncKeyState(), GetForegroundWindow(), etc. are used to poll the state of the keyboard or to subscribe to keyboard events. These types of keyloggers are the easiest to write, but where constant polling of each key is required, they can cause a noticeable increase in CPU usage, and can also miss the occasional key. A more recent example simply polls the BIOS for preboot authentication PINs that have not been cleared from memory;

Form Grabber based: Form Grabber-based keyloggers log web form submissions by recording the web browsing onSubmit event functions. This records form data before it is passed over the internet and bypasses https encryption;