WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.400 Thanks for watching Techquickie. 00:00:01.400 --> 00:00:02.680 Click the subscribe button, 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:04.960 then enable notifications with the bell icon 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:07.120 so you won't miss any future videos. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:10.020 All right, so you're a privacy conscious individual. 00:00:10.020 --> 00:00:12.120 You've got two factor on all your accounts. 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:14.260 You use a reputable VPN service, 00:00:14.260 --> 00:00:16.800 and you even watched our earlier episode on 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.200 what your ISP knows about you. 00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:22.020 But what if there was something lurking 00:00:22.020 --> 00:00:25.180 on your computer itself that could spill 00:00:25.180 --> 00:00:31.580 all of your secrets in spite of your precautions? 00:00:31.580 --> 00:00:34.480 I'm talking, of course, about a keystroke logger 00:00:34.480 --> 00:00:37.640 or keylogger, a nefarious type of program 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:39.940 that does exactly what it sounds like. 00:00:39.940 --> 00:00:44.360 It logs every button you press on your keyboard. 00:00:44.360 --> 00:00:46.720 And while sometimes these can be used 00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:49.620 for legitimate purposes like parental monitoring 00:00:49.620 --> 00:00:53.680 or language research, they also make it child's play 00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:56.380 to steal passwords and search history 00:00:56.380 --> 00:01:00.060 or even spy on emails to your significant other. 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:00.900 Yikes. 00:01:00.900 --> 00:01:01.560 And because a keystroke logger 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:04.540 or keylogger's principle of operation is so simple, 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:07.160 they're easy to code, easy to deploy 00:01:07.160 --> 00:01:11.780 in a wide variety of situations, and easy to hide. 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:13.140 Once you get infected, 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.440 often by clicking on a compromised link, 00:01:15.440 --> 00:01:18.740 software keyloggers can live just about anywhere, 00:01:18.740 --> 00:01:21.620 operating inside a script on the webpage itself, 00:01:21.620 --> 00:01:23.840 injecting themselves into the memory space 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.560 used by your programs to make them hard to detect, 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:28.820 or even getting into the code 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:31.100 of your operating system itself as a root kit 00:01:31.100 --> 00:01:34.820 or by posing as a keyboard driver. 00:01:34.820 --> 00:01:37.180 By the way, root kits are nefarious little bastards. 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:39.500 You can learn more about those up here. 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:42.820 Making matters worse, unless you can see the keylogger 00:01:42.820 --> 00:01:45.900 in the background or in your notification tray, 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:49.300 or you're like noticing obvious delays in the keystrokes 00:01:49.300 --> 00:01:51.240 that aren't explained by anything else, 00:01:51.240 --> 00:01:54.660 it is really difficult to know if you have one installed. 00:01:54.660 --> 00:01:56.980 Defeating them can sometimes even require 00:01:56.980 --> 00:02:01.180 specialized anti-malware software that is designed to protect 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:03.120 against logging software. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.580 So you might want to consider that if you're really concerned 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:07.520 that someone might be spying on you. 00:02:07.520 --> 00:02:09.620 And while you're at it, 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:12.080 you might want to check the back of your PC too. 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.140 Fortunately, these are usually pretty easy to spot, 00:02:15.140 --> 00:02:18.440 but hardware keyloggers also exist, 00:02:18.440 --> 00:02:22.200 often as a dongle that sits between your keyboard cable 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:24.520 and the USB port on your computer. 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:27.020 These can be especially troublesome in settings 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:30.920 where people might not be able to see the back of the PC, 00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:34.160 like in a library or an office. 00:02:34.160 --> 00:02:37.060 And depending on how valuable your work is, 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:39.720 even that might not be enough. 00:02:39.720 --> 00:02:42.820 There have been cases of hardware keyloggers 00:02:42.820 --> 00:02:47.140 being embedded inside a keyboard by a determined snoop, 00:02:47.140 --> 00:02:50.800 and then either retrieved wirelessly using a transmitter 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.640 or physically by going back and digging it back out later. 00:02:54.640 --> 00:02:58.240 It's also even possible for keyloggers to sniff 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.200 the sometimes unencrypted connection 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:04.400 between a wireless keyboard and the PC 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:07.840 to snatch keystrokes out of the air. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:09.960 And we're not done yet. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.840 Now this is some real James Bond level stuff right here. 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:17.320 It's also possible to record the sounds that you make 00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:18.940 as you press each key, 00:03:18.940 --> 00:03:22.760 and use the fact that each key will sound slightly different 00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:27.660 based on its position to reconstruct what you typed. 00:03:27.660 --> 00:03:29.420 Then if that's not crazy enough, 00:03:29.420 --> 00:03:31.420 security researchers have found 00:03:31.420 --> 00:03:33.860 that keyboards give off different frequencies 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:36.980 of radio waves when different keys are pressed, 00:03:36.980 --> 00:03:40.740 and can even trigger smartphone accelerometers 00:03:40.740 --> 00:03:43.940 strongly enough to discern different keystrokes 00:03:43.940 --> 00:03:46.560 if it's sitting close enough to your keyboard. 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:49.710 So I think all of this is enough 00:03:49.710 --> 00:03:51.530 to make pretty much anyone paranoid, 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:53.670 but I do have some good news. 00:03:53.670 --> 00:03:56.550 Unless some spy agency is after you, 00:03:56.550 --> 00:03:58.990 your best bet is to just take a quick glance 00:03:58.990 --> 00:04:00.750 at your cable every now and then 00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:02.970 if you're using a PC in a shared environment, 00:04:02.970 --> 00:04:05.010 run good anti-malware software, 00:04:05.010 --> 00:04:10.010 and as always, stay away from shady links. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.500 PIA VPN supports multiple protocols and encryption levels, 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:19.560 which allows you to dial in the exact level of protection 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:20.460 that you need. 00:04:20.460 --> 00:04:23.420 You can run it on up to five devices at once, 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:27.900 and they've got apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, 00:04:27.900 --> 00:04:31.460 and even a Chrome extension with support for more platforms, 00:04:31.460 --> 00:04:32.420 and they're coming soon. 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:34.020 They've got lots of great features, 00:04:34.020 --> 00:04:37.080 so in addition to being able to bypass geo-restrictions 00:04:37.080 --> 00:04:38.720 and censorship by making you appear 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:40.520 as though you're connecting from somewhere else, 00:04:40.520 --> 00:04:43.540 you can also block unwanted connections to prevent attacks, 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:46.300 auto-block all traffic if the VPN disconnects, 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:50.500 and it even includes MACE, PIA's built-in malware blocker. 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:51.640 So what are you waiting for? 00:04:51.640 --> 00:04:55.140 Check out PIA at the link in the video description. 00:04:55.140 --> 00:04:55.980 So thanks for watching, guys. 00:04:55.980 --> 00:04:57.360 Like, dislike, check out our other channels, 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.920 leave a comment, and don't forget to subscribe 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:01.340 so you don't miss any of our videos. 00:05:01.460 --> 00:05:04.360 Not one of them, you should watch 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