sned keystrokes to background application

[Macka007]

so you just read the parts that you want then? because CLEARLY I said

Originally Posted by stateofidleness
He types 'test' in his application and he wants it to show up in some non-visible application as 'test'. Once it's in that hidden application, you can do whatever you want with it (ie: Log it, Email it, Parse it). THAT is the definition of key logging.

how's that?
If THAT is the definition of keylogging then many apps discussed on this site should be classified as keylogging, because they take user input, check it is valid (in most cases), manipulate it (or not) and store it in a file or send the data to the web. That fits your definition of keylogging.

In that scenario, the user is well aware that they are entering 'test' into an application, in a keylogger you are not aware (or at least are not supposed to be aware) that it is happening.

I did not only read the parts I wanted to read, I believe I addressed that. I'll try again, a different way.

How is it any different from typing something in to say an AV/firewall control centre (such as the path of a folder to exclude) and the AV control centre sending the text to the driver and the driver storing it away? Sure it may not be using PostMessage, but it is essentially doing the same thing.

The user is aware that they have entered data in to an application, however like in your scenario, the user is still unaware of what the software is doing with those keystrokes and are still unaware that an invisible process is accepting their keystrokes (there's nothing I can think of -hardware a side - that is more invisible to the user then a driver or the kernel - heck most users think that explorer and windows (the kernel) are one and the same).

Further more, a keylogger targets a specific application or the entire system. I could set a keyboard hook for say FireFox, Internet Explorer and Chrome and log only keystrokes for those applications. I could set a keyboard hook for the entire system and log the keys, but again, this is NOT the scenario you proposed, what you proposed was:

He types 'test' in his application and he wants it to show up in some non-visible application as 'test'. Once it's in that hidden application, you can do whatever you want with it (ie: Log it, Email it, Parse it). THAT is the definition of key logging.

The user is typing data into the application, not into FireFox, not into MS Word, not into anything else. The user does not have to know how the application works, they just have to know that it does what it says it does and doesn't do anything malicious in the background.

I really, really don't see your problem, let's try a similar scenario:
He types 'test' in his application and he wants it to show up in some "hidden"/"non-visible" (note: he never said hidden nor did he say non-visible) application. The program "captures and logs" the keystrokes that the user knowingly enters, it saves them to a file and then calls

shell ("notepad.exe mean_nasty_keylog.txt", AppWinStyle.Hide)

The user is unaware that a hidden application has their keystrokes "Oh the horror! Keylogger!"


How about this:
A user types keystrokes into an IDE, the IDE saves them to a file, the user presses compile and the strokes are sent to a hidden application (the compiler).

The user, not understanding how the IDE and compiler works, is unaware that a hidden application has their keystrokes "Oh the horror! Keylogger!"


I stand by my original definition and what I said before, with your attitude anything could be considered a keylogger.

and then you go on to say "the user is well aware"... how are they well-aware that a NON-VISIBLE, HIDDEN application is accepting their keystrokes? then you say many apps discussed on the site are keyloggers because they take input yada yada and log it. THEY DON'T DO IT WITHOUT THE USER'S KNOWLEDGE (albeit the logging part in some cases), but the user KNOWS that what they're typing is going to THAT application and THAT application alone.

then you tell me that in a "keylogger, you are not aware that it is happening"... see my original definition.

You are misquoting me, I said "the user is well aware that they are entering 'test' into an application" I did not say or imply that the user was "well-aware that a NON-VISIBLE, HIDDEN application is accepting their keystrokes?", is it up to the user to be aware of exactly how every application on their system functions or why it does whatever it does to complete its task? I will therefore refer you to my AV control centre example.

Do you know exactly how your Word documents gets from your screen to your paper when you hit print? I can almost garuantee that you don't. You may know how it gets from word to the driver, but do you know what every instruction in the driver is and what it does? Do you know which parts of the kernel and which other drivers it talks to to get your document to the printer?