The use of keyloggers is often seen as being right on the thin line between ethical and unethical, and understandably so. We often hear of cases in which hackers use keyloggers to access victims’ bank account details, passwords, and other confidential information. This is certainly a real problem.
However, keyloggers are also used for several ethical reasons, such as when employers in certain domains need to track their employees to ensure no data is leaked. These domains could range from finance, private security and surveillance, communications, bodies in charge of a nation’s security, and many more.
The key is to understand what makes the use of a keylogger ethical or unethical. A key element to discern the legality of using a keylogger to monitor your employees rests in the idea of consent and prior knowledge. If you’re monitoring your employees after they consent to it (several domains require this), it isn’t illegal to do so. However, if you spy on them without their knowledge, this can be illegal.
Now that the legality of using a keylogger is established let’s dive into the various factors one must consider when purchasing keylogger software to monitor their employees. Note that this software can either be keyloggers for iPhones or even desktops and PCs.
What Features Should the Ideal Keylogger Have?
In this Page
There are two main types of keylogger features: keystroke recording and phone surveillance app functionality. The first type of feature monitors keystrokes as they happen and saves them to a file or database for future use. The second type of keylogger features a small application that runs on the infected computer, which uses various commands to capture screenshots, record phone calls, and monitor all keystrokes taken by the target device.
Keystroke Monitoring
The most important feature that any ideal keylogger for a desktop or a smartphone should have is effective keystroke monitoring. The app should be able to record even the smallest inputs to ensure that employers always know what their employees are doing on their devices.
Another key feature that must accompany a keylogging software’s tracking abilities is keyword tracking. This allows a user to select certain keywords that would raise alarm bells if they were to be typed on the target device. With this feature, employers can be alerted whenever an employee types in these keywords onto their devices, which could lead to possible leakage of confidential information.
A bonus would also be if these apps could record exactly which app the keyword was entered in, which can help employers get a more focused understanding of the situation.
Call and SMS Monitoring
The best keylogger software usually comes with features that allow you to monitor phone calls and text messages made and received by the target device. The details of these communications are presented to the employer on an online database through which they can track all conversations and activities.
One of the simplest ways employees might leak confidential information is through social media applications or even through emails. A good keylogger software also allows you to track the target’s social media communications. Additionally, the keyword tracking feature also works for hand in hand, alerting employers about which app the keyword was used on.
Several keyloggers also offer other features that include location tracking, geofencing, and so on. However, as an employer, these are the primary features you should look out for while choosing the right keyloggers to monitor your employees.
However, remember that spying on your employees without their consent can open you to serious privacy invasion lawsuits. As such, you must always inform them that they will be monitored when you’re hiring them, and this disclosure must also be made in your contract with them.
How to Know if You’re Being Spied Upon Using a Keylogger
An article on choosing the right keylogger would be incomplete if we didn’t inform you of the signs that you could be a target of keylogger monitoring or spying. As a result, we’ve listed some of the key patterns you must look out for if you suspect that you’re being spied upon using a keylogger or spy app:
- Your phone automatically turns on. If your phone automatically turns on or unlocks without you having touched it, this could be a sign that someone has been trying to access your device.
- If you notice that there have suddenly been some random transactions made from your bank account that you haven’t made yourself, this could be the result of someone monitoring your phone using a keylogger to get access to all your banking credentials. The best thing to do in such a situation is to uninstall any banking apps and immediately report this to the police.
- Your phone’s battery drains out much quicker, or your data runs out a lot quicker than usual. If this happens, there’s a good chance that someone’s hacked into your phone and is accessing the apps and information stored in it.
In Conclusion
And there you have it. If you’re an employer who runs an enterprise in finance, banking, security, or other domains, you will find this guide very useful. These features are a must-have when purchasing keylogger software for your enterprise. There is also a great deal of in-depth research conducted on these apps, so it’s always a great idea to check them out before making your final decision.
All of the above information should help you in determining if a keylogger feature is right for your needs.