security??????????

Question

Hi!
is it possibe to install a keylogger without the knowledge of a user who is using Windows XP service Pack2? I am asking this only for my knowledge (dont take the wrong sense).

In a sys with FIREWALL in XP SP2, will the firewall easily allow the installation of a keylogger or SOME OTHER Spywares without the user's knowledge?

How to find whether a spyware or a keylogger is present in a system? What r the symptoms for its presence?

Also if a keylogger is present in a sys & it collects the details it has to definitely send the collected info to a remote hacker. If a firewall is installed will the firewall tell the presence of a keylogger?

I expect the answers of all my questions.
Thankking you

Answer 1

You can install a keylogger without their knowledge if you are very good. Most anti-virus programs are going to catch it, as well as other programs. Windows firewall is not going to be much help with blocking the data being sent out, since it does not monitor outgoing connections. To find out if a keylogger is present, update and run your anti-virus or run a free online scan at http://housecall.trendmicro.com/. If that does not catch it get HijackThis..

You can read more about keyloggers at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke_logging

Download HijackThis---http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php#hijackthis. Run and Save a Log. When you log comes up copy and paste the entire log at http://www.hijackthis.de/ . Analyze your results. You will then get a screen that will tell you if you have any nasty stuff in your computer. Follow instructions to deal with any nasties. CAUTION: This is a very powerful tool. Be careful.

As far a symptoms you are not going to see much at all. It runs in the background and send data out to the hacker. To block that you need a firewall that monitor inbound and outbound connections. One such firewall is from Comodo. You can get it from http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/.