In this online age where most of your work is done on the Internet, you need proper protection from snoopers, etc. Some people and bots collect information about you and use it for their benefit. We have been covering different methods to stay safe on the Internet. This review of KeyScrambler Personal Free, and anti-keylogging software, that encrypts keystrokes in a browser is part of the series to keep your information private when you are surfing and entering your information using browsers.
Do note that, in this review, we are covering only the free version of KeyScrambler – and that is KeyScrambler Personal.
KeyScrambler Personal: Works Between Keyboard and Cache
There is nothing that can provide you with complete safety, and you may have to compensate for the security with speed or something else – including money! Of all, the best Internet security product is The Onion Router (TOR). But it is pretty slow, so you may not wish to use it for regular usage. The product we are reviewing in this post is software that changes the keystrokes into something else and is entirely different from TOR or its likes. While TOR is a browser-based on a maze of routers to make you untraceable, KeyScrambler is something that acts between your keyboard and keyloggers. This means it changes – or rather – encrypts the characters you type into something else before it gets to any other part of the computer.
To see how it works, I installed a keylogger on my computer. The following image shows what I typed in Facebook and what was logged by the keylogger. This review proves KeyScramber works and is one of the best keyboard encryption software available for free. I say it is among the best because, in the keylogger report, no one can make sense of what was typed in the browser!
An unknown keylogger on your computer can be the worst thing to happen. Keyloggers can give away all the information you type, and most of them also track the URL of websites you visit. That means if you visit your bank account, the person who installed keyloggers on your computer can easily read and replicate your bank password plus ID. The same danger also applies to private and important documents etc.
Limitation of KeyScrambler Personal Free: Incomplete Protection
While KeyScrambler helps you stay secure on the Internet when using a browser, it offers no protection when you are typing on – say, Microsoft Word or any email Client. In this case, the encryption of characters typed is limited to browsers. But since most of today’s work is browser-based, having KeyScrambler Personal on your machine secures you to a large extent.
If you use browser-based word processing software such as Office Web Apps, you are secure. If you are using browser-based email, you are protected – as KeyScrambler is compatible with almost all known browsers. The only problem is that it won’t scramble (encrypt) the data you type into computer-based software such as an email client or a word processor installed on your local computer.
I do not know why KeyScrambler chose to keep the local software out of encryption. The paid version does provide security when you are working on Windows Explorer, but my concern is Microsoft Word and similar applications.
Probably, a different system is at work when passing keystrokes to browsers than giving them to locally installed word processing documents, including the email clients. Maybe, it is possible to encrypt the encrypted keyboard cache before passing the keystrokes to browsers. I suppose the keystrokes are passed directly to programs for local installations before any other software can access and encrypt them. I do not know it for sure; please share it with me if you have any information on this.
KeyScrambler Personal Review: Best Browser KeyStroke Protection
Do not get tense if your KeyScrambler icon says you are not protected. I was almost irritated while trying to review KeyScrambler and seeing the tray icon off. The problem was that I was trying to use MS Word and Notepad. It wouldn’t turn on, even though the system tray menu showed it as turned on.
Only when I switched to my browser, I notice that it had turned on. So when you are working on anything other than your browser, the KeyScrambler is dormant. It is activated automatically as soon as you switch to browsers. You might even see a KeyScrambler Strip at the center of the browser as and when you open or switch to your browser – any browser.
MY VERDICT: This review of KeyScrambler highlights the following points:
- You are entirely secure when typing into (ANY) browser – be it Firefox, Chrome, IE, Opera, EPIC, or anything else! It even worked on the portable version of Mozilla.
- The protection is limited to browsers. For better security, you need to install good anti-malware that can detect and remove keyloggers. If you are using Windows Vista or above, you have the default Windows Defender that is good enough.
- Finally, it is not a tool to hide your IP address or encrypt all your Internet traffic. If you need such protection, read our review of Spotflux: a free VPN that secures your data on the Internet.
KeyScrambler Personal supports several browsers, and that is a huge plus point. You can download it from here. Works on Windows 10 too.
Do share your experiences, if any, with KeyScrambler Personal.
Looking for more similar tools? Check out SpyShelter Personal Free, Zemana AntiLogger, and Key Logger Detector.
What is an encrypted keyboard?
Depending on if it’s a software or a hardware-enabled keyboard, any encrypted keyboard ensures that each character is not readable when it is passed from low level to high level. This ensures any keylogger trying to read the keypress cannot tap into the data.
What does monitoring keystrokes mean?
Every time a key is pressed a code is generated. A Keylogger, hardware or software, intercepts those keystrokes before sending it to the screen. It can then record and later make sense of it. So for example, if you type email and password one after the other, a hacker can look at the data and make sense of your password.
