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confusedpenguin
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Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 2:50 pm

I may have a keylogger on my system. I'm not sure how though. I just reinstalled Windows 7 a couple of days ago, and nobody else has access to the computer physically. When I go and make a post on craigslist, everything I typed goes to the Windows clipboard. When I went to FedEx to paste a tracking number, everything I typed in my craigslist post showed up instead when I clicked paste. If this is a dirty trick that craigslist normally does, I will stop using craigslist. Is there any way to know if it might be a virus or keylogger? I have microsoft security essentials, which people say is pretty good, unless someone can suggest something better for detecting keyloggers.
 
puppetworx
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:13 pm

 
Forge
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:26 pm

confusedpenguin wrote:
I have microsoft security essentials, which people say is pretty good, unless someone can suggest something better for detecting keyloggers.


It's not happy news, but I think you deserve the truth. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is junk, and it rarely detects anything. On the other hand, it's pretty light on system resources and it is free of charge.

Most other AV are junk too, with some being much better but much more expensive, and very few ever catching any real threats.

These days, I'd say MBAM does more to secure my system than MSE does. MSE just keeps Windows from nagging me, and red flags any key generators that I still have socked away in nested folders, fifty deep.
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confusedpenguin
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:39 pm

Well, MBAM didn't detect anything, so I'm guess craigslist has some filth in their code that copies everything I type there into windows clipboard. I'll probably stop using craigslist. A website should not have that much access to a machine. I feel like my private parts have been inappropriately touched. :(
 
jihadjoe
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:48 pm

Craigslist has nothing of the sort. It's just a normal web page.

You probably have a keylogger that somehow isn't yet in MBAM's definitions. I'm pretty sure they can't catch everything, and a keylogger can be implemented in a much more benign way that makes it hard to detect (as a browser extension, for instance).
 
TheEmrys
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:08 pm

Did you by chance just simply hit a copy shortcut? It can happen when you have some special binds, so it may not be a ctrl-A and then ctrl-C.

If you are paranoid about it, you can always reformat. I'd look into a more robust AV though. MSE is "good enough" for the free crowd, but for anyone who could have an intelligent discussion about things that relate to rule #1, you MUST get something better. Not that I am saying you have, but when anyone runs risks with software/media acquisition, they run more risks than just getting caught.
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Forge
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:24 pm

TheEmrys wrote:
Did you by chance just simply hit a copy shortcut? It can happen when you have some special binds, so it may not be a ctrl-A and then ctrl-C.

If you are paranoid about it, you can always reformat. I'd look into a more robust AV though. MSE is "good enough" for the free crowd, but for anyone who could have an intelligent discussion about things that relate to rule #1, you MUST get something better. Not that I am saying you have, but when anyone runs risks with software/media acquisition, they run more risks than just getting caught.


Yeah, to state things slightly more plainly, but still this side of rule #1, anyone who has any dealings with the eyepatch crowd, or even the hax lol folks should have something more robust than MSE, and there are lots of options. A VMware sandbox is good, better AV is good, or best is probably something more complex like SteadyState or frequent backups and restores.
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Vrock
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 5:11 pm

anyone who has any dealings with the eyepatch crowd
Odd how these types sh*t where they eat, isn't it? If morals and values aren't reason enough to keep you from pirating, maybe that should be.
 
JohnC
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:58 pm

MSE is almost useless at catching malware, so is MBAM (MBAM is good at removing Adware, though). Get a proper antimalware product, something with high detection rating:
http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-us ... yjun-2013/
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Forge
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Thu Aug 22, 2013 11:28 pm

Vrock wrote:
anyone who has any dealings with the eyepatch crowd
Odd how these types sh*t where they eat, isn't it? If morals and values aren't reason enough to keep you from pirating, maybe that should be.


Well, I think it's less about defecation near the food source, and more about the culture as a whole. If you're a M4D 0-D4Y H4X0R, you pirate EVERYTHING from the BIOS up through the archiver you use to pack the release, and your copy of SoftIce better be pirated too.... And all it takes is one or two M4D L33T H4X0RZ to catch some nasty malware, and it goes into some popular release, and it's infected every friggin machine in the scene, and it's in the outgoing "product" that's going out into the world.....

I'd probably be in that benighted mess myself, but Steam and their sales, plus increasing age (and maturity? Nah!) have made me an almost completely licensed-and-legit consumer.

I'm mildly disgusted at myself, just saying it aloud.
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just brew it!
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Re: Do I have a keylogger on my system?

Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:10 am

I think there's a dash of invincibility syndrome thrown in as well, i.e. "Hey, it'll never happen to me, I'm better than that!"

Getting back to the OP, yeah it could be a keylogger (or other malware); but it could also just be a bug. I've seen some pretty strange ones over the years, and this would not be the strangest.
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