« Seriously noisy Spanish internet cafes | Main | RSS Made Easy »
November 27, 2004
Keylogger Software can be Beaten - For Free
Before we came on vacation, I was pretty worried using internet cafe´s to log into my business accounts, like email or this blog. I´ve read that some internet cafes routinely use keylogger software to monitor keystrokes and can even use it to gather credit card numbers!
A couple of companies have created products to get round this problem. One of them is Poco Systems, the company that creates the well known and widely loved Pocomail email client. Their product Pocoemail On The Go is a well-considered solution that gives you secure access your email from any internet cafe through an email client and a USB memory stick.
After considering it for a long while I decided not to buy their software. I figured that they are a couple of free ways I can use to beat any keylogger software.
Basically, since keyloggers only log keystrokes, the way round them is to use your mouse instead of using keystrokes. So how do you do that?
You simple type all the characters that make up your password in notepad - but not in the password order - and then assemble the password using your mouse, by copying and pasting.
So for example lets say your password is "grumpysheep" and you´re sitting in an internet cafe about to read your email.
First of all open notepad and write "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz". Next, use your mouse highlight "g". Press Cntrl-C to copy. Move to a fresh line and press Cntrl-V to paste. Next follow with "r". Continue until you´ve built up your whole password "grumpysheep".
Finally, copy that word "grumpysheep´, and paste it into the password field in your browser wherever a password is required.
This took me less than a minute when I did it today.
What if you can´t access notepad? The nasty internet cafe I used yesterday wouldn´t let me open notepad on their machine. In that case a simple tip is to use a browser-based editing window: Go to any site that allows you to enter comments and use the window that you see.
This blog is an example of such a site.
These simple tips should allow you get round any keylogger software without spending a penny.
Posted by onelukey at November 27, 2004 11:38 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.pacemake.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/7