Key loggers and other prank programs

Mosquitoboy

I was wondering if anyone knows of any good prank programs/key loggers that I can get.
I would never ask the Internet this question under normal circumstances, for its just like saying; "I AM COMPUTER ILLITERATE AND WANT TO BE INFECTED. So if you wouldn't mind crushing my computer, I would really appreciate it."
But I "Trust" the geek nights forums enough to only scan the files that you guys may tell me about 2 times instead of the usual 50.

I am doing this to learn more about these programs, I have no intention of using them illegally. Especially because I am either on a college network (where they can spy on what I do, or shut off my access to the Internet) or at my job at a police station where I plan on having a career in. I don't think either option would be good to do anything illegal.

I wish I could call myself anymore then computer literate, but my knowledge is only in high school level coding and listening to Geeknights. I wish to learn about these programs first hand, and any other second hand info you guys have on them is also greatly appreciated.

God this sounds sketchy...

kenjura

Rym can tell you about a good one for opening CD trays. In fact, he did at some point in the show.

But, seriously, if you aren't comfortable with your level of technical knowledge, I wouldn't fool around with these things. Even if you are a computer guru, there is little if any cause to experiment with such programs outside of a sandbox environment.

There are plenty of more legal and ethical pranks you can pull without a program like that. Refer to dozens of previous examples in Things of the Day for clues, and bring a camera when you do it.

Mosquitoboy

I highly doubt I will ever do anything malicious, because I don't like to cause harm to others. My parents brainwashed... I mean raised me well.
But thank you for the warning on experimenting with these, but I need to start learning somewhere, and going into a career in Criminal Justice, I wish to learn from as many sources as I can.
Classes are helpful, but seeing how people pick locks has helped me understand the idea better. I wish to do the same with computer hacking, on a very rudimentary level.

kenjura

Classes sound like a good idea. If you can get into or at least audit some courses on computer security, I highly recommend it. A rudimentary understanding of computer security is as essential in the information age as an understanding of physical security. It ought to be part of the basic package of computer literacy, which should be a compulsory and standardized part of public education, but I digress.

...

"Keyloggers" and "prank programs" in the same sentence, twice. Darned kids these days, keylogging != prank. You do not want somebody logging every damned keystroke you make. Ever. Having the programs is only risky and you learn hardly anything from it. Oh wooptidoo you know how that program works. In the mean time don't worry about the possible backport the original coder made which now is logging all your keystrokes and sending to a server. Imo you don't learn anything more if you have those programs, heck, mere research probably results in faster knowledge.

Let's look at that lockpicking. It isn't that hard. You only need to know how the lock you're facing works internally, which is basically "glare, nod, grab lockpicks" and then just use lockpicks on the lock. Now if you actually want to unlock locks with lockpicks, go for it, buy some lockpicks and a lock at the store and start practicing. You won't learn anything more then what you could've learned from a book, or a website. You'll only develop skills to use the stuff. Which is the same as with those keyloggers and prank programs, you can learn about it without using them. But if you want to use them, go nuts. I won't say it's smart though.

Neito

Best lockpicking guide I've found, not that I've read many.

Omnutia

I thought bump keys were the in thing. Though they are kind of bulky.

...

How Stuff Works: Lockpicking
All you can say about lockpicking is, identify lock, get proper picks, pick lock, ???, PROFIT! The workings behind it can be found on hsw.

Rym

Unsolicited key logging and other intrusions are, to the best of my knowledge, criminal acts in most places.  I am not a lawyer, so my advice is to not get caught.  Whether not getting caught involves not getting caught or not doing it in the first place is up to you.  If you do this over state lines, I believe you will be committing a federal crime.  You can interperet that how you like.
My full advice is to try these things out on your own PCs, with friends you trust, or with written permission from friends you don't trust.
But, seriously, if you aren't comfortable with your level of technical knowledge, I wouldn't fool around with these things.This can't be overstated.  I may or may not have opened and/or closed Kenjura's CD tray at some point in my life.  I did, however, test this on my own network and my own PCs well before (allegedly) doing it.  Messing up your own PC in an experiment is a good story and a good lesson.  Messing up someone else's PC is a stabbin'.