How to identify and remove stealth keygens?

[jfremani]

I have a macbook with Leopard. Is it possible for someone who uses my computer to install a keygen that I would not notice? What are good ways to detect/scan for this?

 

[gescom]

I hear a lot of people recommend Macscan I believe. Can anyone validate this?

 

[miles01110]

A good way to prevent it is a strong administrator password.

 

[angelwatt]

Keygens are programs that generate keys for pirated software. I doubt that's what you're asking. You're likely asking about key-loggers, which record your keystrokes. They can be installed in various ways so it would be hard to give you definitive steps that would check everything. If you're serious about it, take your machine to a computer expert who knows how to do the checks properly.

 

[whooleytoo]

Hard to give a definitive answer.

- Check Login Items (in System Preferences) to see if there are any apps starting up that you don't recognise.
- Try "launchctl list" in the Terminal, and see if there's anything there that shouldn't be. (Not always easy to tell).
- Install Little Snitch, or something like that. A keylogger is little use if the person who installed it can't get at the recorded data.

 

[newspypig]

Hard to give a definitive answer.

- Check Login Items (in System Preferences) to see if there are any apps starting up that you don't recognise.
- Try "launchctl list" in the Terminal, and see if there's anything there that shouldn't be. (Not always easy to tell).
- Install Little Snitch, or something like that. A keylogger is little use if the person who installed it can't get at the recorded data.

Yeah, this is the best way to detect keyloggers. Mac scan won't find keyloggers.