Protecting from Keyloggers

I guess most of the people know what a keylogger is, but I´ll make a short introduction for those who don´t.
A keylogger is a program like a virus, when it infects your computer it remains hidden everytime you turn it on. Everything looks ok but the keylogger is there working, registering all your keystrokes and sending all the info to the "hacker". Then it´s not really so difficult to steal passwords from other people´s computers using this kind of programs. And you´ll notice nothing unusual until you login to your e-gold account and see all your money has magically vanished, or try to login to your 12DP account and get the "Incorrect login" message... or something worse, who knows!

The problem is that some keyloggers are so sophisticated that an antivirus program cannot detect them. I have personally tested one of those keyloggers in my computer and my Norton (updated) antivirus didn´t block it, nor showed any warning... nothing! ...which is really worring.

Ok, so let´s get to the point.

Maybe you´ve seen that many bank websites ask you for enter your secret number or password using a virtual keypad in their own website instead of typing it. This is a security system designed to avoid keyloggers to register sensible data from customer´s computers.
Ok, but 12DP, E-Gold, etc. have nothing like that, you just have to type your password as usual, therefore you´re exposed to get your passwords stolen in case your computer is infected by a keylogger.

Now this is the interesting thing: you can use your "own" security system, similar to that used by banks, just intalling a "virtual keyboard" program. When you run this kind of programs, you´ll see a virtual keyboard on your screen, so you can "click" your passwords instead of typing them.
In fact I think these programs were designed as an accessibility tool, you know, for people with some kind of physical deficiency who are not able to type, but we can give it a very different application.
Of course "clicking" a password is slower than typing, but it´s much more secure, and there is no keylogger able to track your passwords that way! (as far as I know at least).

Where to get one of those programs? For windows users (the majority, I would say), go to microsoft.com and search "Microsoft Visual Keyboard" (compatible with Win98/NT/ME/2000/XP). It´s freeware!
If you want a program like that for Linux, Mac, etc. go to google and try searching "Visual Keyboard", "Virtual Keyboard", and probably you´ll find something. Good luck!

So in short: if you care your money please protect your passwords.

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