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then enable notifications with the bell icon

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All right, so you're a privacy conscious individual.

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You've got two factor on all your accounts.

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You use a reputable VPN service,

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and you even watched our earlier episode on

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what your ISP knows about you.

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But what if there was something lurking

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on your computer itself that could spill

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all of your secrets in spite of your precautions?

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I'm talking, of course, about a keystroke logger

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or keylogger, a nefarious type of program

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that does exactly what it sounds like.

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It logs every button you press on your keyboard.

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And while sometimes these can be used

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for legitimate purposes like parental monitoring

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or language research, they also make it child's play

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to steal passwords and search history

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or even spy on emails to your significant other.

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Yikes.

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And because a keystroke logger

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or keylogger's principle of operation is so simple,

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they're easy to code, easy to deploy

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in a wide variety of situations, and easy to hide.

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Once you get infected,

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often by clicking on a compromised link,

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software keyloggers can live just about anywhere,

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operating inside a script on the webpage itself,

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injecting themselves into the memory space

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used by your programs to make them hard to detect,

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or even getting into the code

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of your operating system itself as a root kit

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or by posing as a keyboard driver.

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By the way, root kits are nefarious little bastards.

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You can learn more about those up here.

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Making matters worse, unless you can see the keylogger

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in the background or in your notification tray,

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or you're like noticing obvious delays in the keystrokes

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that aren't explained by anything else,

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it is really difficult to know if you have one installed.

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Defeating them can sometimes even require

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specialized anti-malware software that is designed to protect

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against logging software.

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So you might want to consider that if you're really concerned

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that someone might be spying on you.

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And while you're at it,

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you might want to check the back of your PC too.

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Fortunately, these are usually pretty easy to spot,

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but hardware keyloggers also exist,

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often as a dongle that sits between your keyboard cable

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and the USB port on your computer.

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These can be especially troublesome in settings

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where people might not be able to see the back of the PC,

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like in a library or an office.

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And depending on how valuable your work is,

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even that might not be enough.

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There have been cases of hardware keyloggers

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being embedded inside a keyboard by a determined snoop,

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and then either retrieved wirelessly using a transmitter

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or physically by going back and digging it back out later.

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It's also even possible for keyloggers to sniff

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the sometimes unencrypted connection

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between a wireless keyboard and the PC

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to snatch keystrokes out of the air.

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And we're not done yet.

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Now this is some real James Bond level stuff right here.

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It's also possible to record the sounds that you make

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as you press each key,

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and use the fact that each key will sound slightly different

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based on its position to reconstruct what you typed.

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Then if that's not crazy enough,

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security researchers have found

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that keyboards give off different frequencies

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of radio waves when different keys are pressed,

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and can even trigger smartphone accelerometers

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strongly enough to discern different keystrokes

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if it's sitting close enough to your keyboard.

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So I think all of this is enough

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to make pretty much anyone paranoid,

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but I do have some good news.

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Unless some spy agency is after you,

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your best bet is to just take a quick glance

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at your cable every now and then

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if you're using a PC in a shared environment,

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run good anti-malware software,

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and as always, stay away from shady links.

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PIA VPN supports multiple protocols and encryption levels,

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which allows you to dial in the exact level of protection

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that you need.

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You can run it on up to five devices at once,

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and they've got apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux,

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and even a Chrome extension with support for more platforms,

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and they're coming soon.

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They've got lots of great features,

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so in addition to being able to bypass geo-restrictions

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and censorship by making you appear

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as though you're connecting from somewhere else,

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you can also block unwanted connections to prevent attacks,

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auto-block all traffic if the VPN disconnects,

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and it even includes MACE, PIA's built-in malware blocker.

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So what are you waiting for?

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Check out PIA at the link in the video description.

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So thanks for watching, guys.

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Like, dislike, check out our other channels,

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