Hands-on Project 2 - 2 (Practical 3)

Objective: Use a Keylogger

A keylogger program captures everything that a user enters on a computer keyboard. The program runs invisibly in the background and cannot be detected even from the Windows Task Manager. In this project, we will download and use a keyboard logger.

1) Open your Web browser and enter the URL www.softdd.com/keystrokerecorder/index.html.

2) Click Download Here.

3) When the File Download dialog box appears, click Save and follow the instructions to Save this file in a
location such as your Desktop or a folder designated by your instructor. When the file finishes downloading, click Run and follow the default installation procedures.

4) Click Run Keyboard Collector and then click OK. If you are asked for a password, click OK.

5) Select the Always Run check box, if necessary.

6) Click Activate/Start, and then click Yes to confirm.

7) Spend several minutes performing normal activity, such as creating a document or sending an e-mail message.

8) Now examine what the keylogger captured. Double-click the Keyboard Collector Trail icon on the desktop.

9) When asked to enter a password, click OK.

10) Click Run Keyboard Collector and then click OK.

11) Click View Your Logs, and then click OK. Notice that the text you typed has been captured.

12) Click Return and then Exit.

13) Now notice that Keyboard Collector is cloaking itself so that it does not appear to be running. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys and click Start Task Manager.

14) Click the Applications tab to see all of the programs that are currently running. Does Keyboard Collector appear in this list? Why or why not?

As we can see from the Task Manager, the Keyboard Collector does not appear in the list. This is because the program runs invisibly in the background and thus cannot be detected by the Task Manager.

15) Close the Windows Task Manager.

16) Remove Keyboard collector from the computer. Double-click the Keyboard Collector Trail icon on the desktop.

17) When asked to enter a password, click OK.

18) Click Run Keyboard Collector and then click OK.

19) Click Deactivate and then click OK.

20) Click Uninstall and follow the default procedures to install the program.

21) Close all windows.

Reflection

I find that Keylogger is a ‘cunning’ program. This is because I do not know whether there is any Keylogger program being activated in my computer that captures my important information such as my account password. After doing this project, I finally know how a Keylogger operate and is being used by the attackers to capture important information.