Keylogger - CNET General Mac software discussions Forums

Answer Best answer as chosen by user newbie8

Wiping the hard drive and re-installing the OS

by mrmacfixit - 4/6/12 10:11 AM

will remove any nasties on your computer.

Keyloggers are normally installed by someone sitting in front of the computer and having the password required to install software.

P

Was this reply helpful? (1) (0)

Staff pick

Report offensive post

Email to friend

Permalink

Keylogger

by newbie8 - 4/6/12 5:13 PM

In Reply to: Wiping the hard drive and re-installing the OS by mrmacfixit

I have a personal Mac desktop (not a laptop). I am just worried about my kids' friends installing something - or my insecure boyfriend for that matter.

Nobody knows any of my passwords. Could somebody do this with their own password? Obviously I know nothing about computers.

So, does that mean if I took the computer to the Mac store and they wiped the whole thing off and installed a new operating system, that I don't have to worry about this?

Thank you so much for your help.

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Report offensive post

Email to friend

Permalink

You would not have to worry, up to a point.

by mrmacfixit - 4/7/12 10:31 AM

In Reply to: Keylogger by newbie8

That point being when the computer came back to the house and your insecure boyfriend or your kids friends were still there.

Here is a way to prevent access.

Create an account for yourself on the computer. Make sure it is an Administrator account.
Make an account for the boyfriend and one for the kids.
Make sure those accounts are NOT Administrator accounts.

Depending on what version of OS X you are using, you will find the option of making an account an Admin one in the User & Groups preference pane inside System Preferences.
The choice is either at the very beginning of the "make a new account" procedure or partway through. The latter will be a check box that says, Allow user to administer this computer" (or words to that effect)

Once done, make sure that you LOG OUT of your account every time you leave the computer unattended. The BF and Kids will only be able to access their own accounts and will not be able to install software.
Do NOT allow your password to become known. Make it contain Upper, Lower, numbers and the odd special character.

P

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Report offensive post

Email to friend

Permalink

Answer Best answer as chosen by user newbie8

If the owners know nothing about computers

by R. Proffitt - 4/6/12 10:17 AM

In Reply to: Keylogger by newbie8

You can usually trick them into installing it again. So yes it survives because the owners will reinstall the app.

It's pretty rare for a keylogger to infect an Apple. All the infections I have encountered were from folk installing the bad app. This may change with that JAVA issue but then again, we opted to run that code and JAVA?

The keylogger we use at the office survives because it's in hardware. Otherwise it could be uninstalled by a wipe.
Bob