Keyloggers Defined: What To Look For, How They Affect You, And How To Detect And Defeat Them
ESET, Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Sneaky tools that monitor your keystrokes have been around for decades. But what are keyloggers, how do they work, and how can you find and block them?
Keyloggers eavesdrop on keyboard inputs, recording anything typed into devices by users. This data can include passwords, banking details, messages, and other confidential information. Inputs can also include things like biometrics and mouse or touchscreen inputs.
In the past, attackers used physical bugs to eavesdrop on the keystrokes of physical typewriters, but today it is more common to find software-based keyloggers in the wild. That said, today's keyloggers are typically incorporated as a one of the features or tools available in infostealer packages - which operate predominantly as Malware as a Service (MaaS).