Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Sharing a computer comes with a lot of potential privacy and security issues. If you don't trust the person you share with, you shouldn't be sharing.
We are two people using the same computer. I used to trust this person until I found out that he had my Facebook password. I changed it, and a second time he was able to get it. I suspect keylogging software. I don't want to open this computer again before knowing what to expect. I read that such software run invisibly and that I can temporary deactivate it when I log in by checking the processes running. I need your help to explain to me what I am about to do. If I stop the process, does it really deactivate the keylogger, and how I can find out which software is downloaded and what to do about it?
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For obvious reasons keylogging software falls into the broader category of "spyware", since its very point is to spy on you.
Ultimately, my news for you is not good.
I do have some advice. Unfortunately, you probably won't like it.
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My advice is this:
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Get your own computer.
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Set it up securely so that only you can log in to it, and never leave it logged in when you're not around.
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Change every password and every security question to every account you accessed from the share computer.
I know, it's super harsh, but it's really the only solution. Sharing a computer with someone you don't trust simply cannot be done safely.
The instructions that you read sound great in theory: identify the keylogger and disable it. What could be simpler?
The problem is that keyloggers, and spyware in general, have worked incredibly hard to not be found. Heck, an entire industry is built around identifying and removing spyware, and even that industry - as large and as sophisticated as it is - can't remove everything with 100% reliability.
I couldn't even begin to tell you what processes to look for - there are literally thousands of possibilities, and even that wouldn't be an exhaustive list. It's just not that simple.
Yes, you can try anti-spyware software if you like. It may or may not find something. Will it find what your friend has installed? Hard to say. What you probably can be sure of is that your friend will then notice, which I'm sure is also not something you want to have happen by the way you worded your question.
Nope, the only true solution is the most difficult one: don't share a computer with someone you don't trust.
Article C3798 - July 8, 2009 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
August 18, 2009 5:08 PM
I used software like that to spy on my EX-wife and was confronted by a law suit that states, if you monitor another persons computer, you must notify them...Take time to read the small print in the legal disclaimers of these programs...it cost me close to $70k to settle [edited]...just a word of warning
August 25, 2009 4:01 PM
@Rob. Sorry about that costly experience. I think in this case it was a shared computer. If you OWN the machine being used I can't see why you can't monitor your own machine. Why would it be any different from say, pointing a video camera on your driveway if your car keeps getting broken into? If you installed such software on a computer owned by someone else I could see a potential problem. I also would guess the judgement amount you cited was the divorce settlement and not solely a punitive fine for installing the monitoring software. The problem with using this kind of information is the overwhelming temptation to use it as a cudgel when emotion over-rides the intellect. As I said, I recommend this program to parents if they have a reason to be concerned what their kids are doing online. I'm certainly not a lawyer, but I think that's well withing the boundaries of parenting and I doubt 14 year old Johnny or 16 year old Susie is going to sue their parents over monitoring Internet usage. I don't think there is a single case of a company successfully being sued for punishing an employee for using a company computer for unauthorized activity, said activity found through monitoring. See below.
To respond to the comments about "professionally written software" I checked out a PC for a guy that he thought was being monitored. I opened up things with Windows Explorer and browsed through a few folders with odd names. When I opened one labeled "Junk" I saw three programs in it that turned out to be a keyboard logger, a web traffic trap, and another program that took random screen shots. This was at a corporation that also used monitoring software to insure nothing unapproved was loaded onto machines. Obviously, they had approved it. I had him get his union representative and showed him what I had found. The software was removed but not before he was given a 30 day suspension for inappropriate use of a company computer. Installing the software was allowed only under the narrowest of conditions, and this didn't quite fit the guidelines. While technically he did misuse the PC, he wasn't doing anything everybody with computer access was doing, and far less than some. He was an abrasive character who got in a position to create problems for people so there was an on-going effort to fire him. The monitoring software was just part of the ploy. The point is, I know at least some of this software leaves a folder somewhere. It could be hard to find with a full hard drive, but with a few simple tricks, view hidden folders enabled, an some poke and peek, it often can be found. The company later set things up so over a certain amount of time connected to the Internet had been exceeded, that employee's account was monitored. That put an end to sharing user IDs and passwords since many people stayed online and just minimized the screen on the workstation they were using. It's hard to explain to the systems administrator why your user ID was logged onto the internet for 60 hours in a 40 hour week! (2 shifts)
December 16, 2010 6:13 AM
You can use KeyBag ,it' s key logger as well.I use it.It's programm recorder all what happens on computer.
November 15, 2011 12:12 AM
If you have to share a computer with someone, then get together with them and buy a removable rack system for the harddrive, tell them it's to protect their privacy also. These units are basically a drawer that you mount your harddrive into, then you mount the other half into a CD/DVD bay in your case and plug the wires into the back of that, all you have to do when you leave is lift the handle and slide the whole harddrive out of the case, simple, then whoever else wants to use it can just slide their harddrive into the slot and use it. I purchased mine since I lived in a high crime area (broken into twice within a month) and didn't want to lug my computer box with me everywhere, all I had to do was pull the 2 x harddrives out and carry those with me. The ones I got are fully sealed aluminium boxes (fully protects the harddrive in transit) and each case unit has a built in fan to keep them cool.
November 15, 2011 12:14 AM
If you have to share a computer with someone, then get together with them and buy a removable rack system for the harddrive, tell them it's to protect their privacy also. These units are basically a drawer that you mount your harddrive into, then you mount the other half into a CD/DVD bay in your case and plug the wires into the back of that, all you have to do when you leave is lift the handle and slide the whole harddrive out of the case, simple, then whoever else wants to use it can just slide their harddrive into the slot and use it. I purchased mine since I lived in a high crime area (broken into twice within a month) and didn't want to lug my computer box with me everywhere, all I had to do was pull the 2 x harddrives out and carry those with me. The ones I got are fully sealed aluminium boxes (fully protects the harddrive in transit) and each case unit has a built in fan to keep them cool.