Describe criminal and noncriminal uses of keyboard monitoring software. List steps to help detect these programs.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

These programs have both criminal and beneficial purposes. When used in a positive fashion, employers can measure the efficiency of data entry personnel. This software also can verify that employees are not releasing company secrets, are not viewing personal or inappropriate content on work computers, and are not engaging in activities that could subject the company to harassment, hacking, or other similar charges.?Employers sometimes use the software to troubleshoot technical problems and to back up their networks. Parents, likewise, can verify their children are using the home computer safely and are not visiting inappropriate websites. Educators and researchers can capture students' input to analyze how well they are learning a second language or improving their typing skills. This software also can monitor activity in chat rooms and other similar locations.?When used for malicious purposes, criminals use the programs on both public and private computers to capture user names, passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive data and then use this data to access financial accounts and private networks.?Many keylogging programs are available, and they perform a variety of functions. Some simply record keystrokes in a hidden file stored on a hard drive that can be accessed by supplying the correct password. More sophisticated programs record software used, websites visited, and periodic screenshots and then transmit this data to a remote computer.?It can be difficult to locate keylogging software on a computer, but taking these steps may help detect these programs:•Run detection software regularly. Several antivirus and spyware detection programs check for known keylogging programs.•Review hard drive files. Regularly look at the most recent files and note any that are updated continually. These files might be the keylogging software's logs.•Check running programs. Periodically examine which software is loaded from the computer's hard drive into memory when you start the computer and which are running while you are using the computer. If you are uncertain of any program names, perform a search to learn the software's function and if it is a known keylogging program.