Many unsuspecting people have been a victim of a simple way of getting their precious information when using public computer terminals. There are ways for to capture information like password or account username and others with the use of a keylogger software.

A keylogger is a program that is installed on a computer and it stores all keystrokes on an encrypted file which can be reviewed later. One could easily guess passwords based on the sequence of the keystrokes. This is similar to Trojan viruses that gets passwords and send them to a hackers email of choice.

There is another kind of keyloggers which is hardware based. This kind of keylogger is usually fitted between the keyboard cable and the computer. It could then be left in place after activation until certain information of interest like password is captured. Later the keylogger could be removed together with the file of keystrokes. The file is then examined for the password and accounts.

Anti-virus scanners could not detect a hardware keylogger as it is outside of the operating system of the computer. A software keylogger on the other hand is detectable as it is installed on a system even if it is installed stealthily. The keylogger installed in a computer either with a software program or hardware device could be illegal depending on its use. Thus, beware of public computer terminals they could be trap for invading your privacy with keylogger software.