KSU Student Arrested for Hacking – Keylogger Use Suspected

A student at Kennesaw State University was recently arrested on charges that he hacked into the school’s systems and changed grades. When police searched his home, they found a notebook containing numerous KSU employee usernames and passwords.

It is very likely this information was captured with the use of a software or hardware keylogger. Keyloggers are devices (or software programs) that covertly capture keyboard input in order to obtain usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information. Hardware keyloggers are extremely difficult for system protection software to detect and often go unnoticed unless they cause interruptions or issues. Be on alert for the appearance of any “new” equipment connected to your office computer and for suspicious USB devices left in or around computers in classrooms or public areas. An easy way to distinguish a keylogger from a normal USB drive is the presence of both a male and female USB connector. You can see several examples of these devices by searching for ‘USB keylogger’ on images.google.com