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Keyloggers are one of the most formidable cybersecurity threats that organizations face today. They are formidable not just because they can be difficult to detect but also because of the vast amount of sensitive corporate and personal data they can collect in a short space of time. A keylogger captures every character and word on an infected device.
This information may include enterprise application logins, personal banking logins, social media passwords, debit and credit card data, social security details, and everything in between. How can you protect your network and computing devices from keyloggers? Here are some practical tips.
1. Use a Firewall
All the valuable information a keylogger collects is meaningless if there’s no way of getting it into the hands of the attacker. Usually, the keylogger will relay the information back to the attacker through the internet. By setting up a firewall, you can detect such unusual traffic.
If your computers run on Windows, you can start by enabling the default Windows Firewall. However, the Windows Firewall can only detect simple keyloggers. Seasoned hackers will rely on keyloggers that are much harder to pick up. For best results therefore, you should install a third-party firewall. These have much greater functionality than the Windows Firewall.
2. Use a Password Manager
The average organization has multiple systems that employees routinely log into. It can be difficult for staff to remember their passwords to a dozen different applications. A password manager can be a great way to keep track of login credentials without having to remember each and every password.
However, a password manager has another crucial advantage when it comes to combating keyloggers — users don’t need to type their passwords. Most password managers rely on an autofill feature. If users aren’t typing their passwords, there are no keystrokes for the keylogger to read and log.
3. Force Regular Password Change
Keyloggers won’t always be able to relay information to an attacker quickly. This could either be due to a lack of constant internet connectivity for the infected device or a configuration of the keylogger itself that schedules data transmission once a week or month. Even when keyloggers do transmit the stolen data in real time, hackers won’t always have the time to immediately start examining it for useful information.
Ensuring employees change their passwords regularly can therefore render the stolen information irrelevant when the attacker eventually gets to see it. This can be easily configured on most access control panels (for example, forcing a user to change their password ever three months and preventing them from reusing a previous password for at least one year).
4. Patch Your Systems
It’s hard to go wrong when you adopt a proactive approach to system security. The most proactive thing you can do to your technology infrastructure is to ensure all software is patched and kept up to date. That covers firmware, operating systems, enterprise applications, website CMS and mobile apps.
Keyloggers just like other malware will often have an easier time infiltrating and exploiting outdated software than they would updated systems. Application developers are constantly investigating or learning of new vulnerabilities in their software. The updates are meant to seal these gaps.
5. Consider Additional Tools
A third party firewall and a password manager are examples of tools that can bolster the security of your devices. You should seek to have security-in-depth by having multiple layers of security. The more the tools the better. A keylogger may successfully outsmart one control but it’s unlikely to circumvent all the security tools you put in place.
Tools that target keyloggers would be ideal but you should also have more general security software such as an antivirus or enterprise log management software.
These tips may not guarantee protection against keyloggers but they’ll certainly reduce the likelihood of infection.
