Keylogger
Noun · Security & Infosec
Definitions
Software or hardware that covertly records every keystroke made on a computer, capturing passwords, messages, and other sensitive input for later retrieval by an attacker.
In plain English: A sneaky program that records everything you type — every password, every message — and sends it to someone else.
Etymology
- 1970s
- Soviet intelligence installs hardware keyloggers inside IBM Selectric typewriters at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow — not discovered until 1984
- 1983
- Perry Kivolowitz writes the first known software keylogger for Unix as a proof of concept
- 2000s
- Keyloggers become a standard component of banking trojans and commercial 'employee monitoring' software