Protect Your Password In Cyber Cafe and On Public Computers
Written by Pradeep Kumar in Security - Print This Post
Some time or the other, you must have used cyber cafe or public computers to access internet or mail. Public computers are most prone to password hacking. Anyone can simply install a key logger software to hack your password.
Key logging is one of the most insidious threats to a user’s personal information. Passwords, credit card numbers etc.
It is now very easy for the key logger to harvest passwords. Each and every keystroke (whatever you type on the keyboard) gets recorded in the key logger software and the person installing it can easily view what you have typed in.
Example :
If you go to hotmail.com and check your mails. Consider your ID is sam890060@hotmail. com and password is rapper. The key logger software records your username and password in its log file as
https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=11&ct=1295603461&rver=6.1.6206.0&wp=MBI&wreply=http:%2F%2Fmail.live.com%2Fdefault.aspx&lc=1033&id=64855&mkt=en-US&cbcxt=mai&snsc=1. comsam890060@ hotmail.comrapper/
Or
Firefox :
https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=11&ct=1295603461&rver=6.1.6206.0&wp=MBI&wreply=http:%2F%2Fmail.live.com%2Fdefault.aspx&lc=1033&id=64855&mkt=en-US&cbcxt=mai&snsc=1. comsam890060@ hotmail.comrapper/
Risky isn’t it???!!!
There’s solution to this problem and you can easily fool the hacker. The keylogger software sees and records everything, but it doesn’t understand what it sees. It does not know what to do with keys that are typed anywhere other than the password or user name fields. So, between successive keys of the password if you enter random keys, the keylogger software won’t ever come to know where you typed in what.
In the process of recording the keys, the string that the keylogger receives will contain the password, but embedded in so much random junk that discovering it is infeasible.
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Interesting, I actually do the same when I suspect a public computer system may record my key strokes
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Yeah ! Better be Secure than Sorry !
Cheers !
It is necessary to select a strong password and also to secure your computer from spyware and malware so that stealthy applications such as keyloggers do not attack your computer. Then only you can ensure safety of your passwords.
Yes, unbreakable and crackable passwords are essential for a secure browsing !
never login in cyber cafe. i better use it on my mobile , but never in a cafe
if home pc is prone to keyloggers , how can cafe computers can be trusted
Computers in "legit" internet cafes usually have a very robust firewall, as well as other security features enabled to prevent keyloggers and such from stealing your personal info.
I try always to carry my laptop to avoid use a public computer
this is a good way to be secure when you use a public computer
I don’t thin all cyber cafe owners install these key-loggers in their system.
I don’t trust the computers on a computer cafe, that is why I always have my laptop with me. If I need to check something that needs info like password, I just turn on my laptop on a hotspot and viola!