Sorry if this has been covered before, could you tell me what and how a keystroke logger is/ works?An article in my computer mag says AV's , firewalls and anti-spyware software won't necessarily stop or protect you from downloading one.It goes on..."Spamhaus suggests downloading Stinger, a free tool that will detect and remove keystroke loggers."
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger


Are these something i should be concerned about and do i need the download?Many thanks in advance.
Catweazle.

Stinger is a very limited tool, it will only remove the following:

This version of Stinger includes detection for all known variants, as of March 1, 2005:

BackDoor-AQJ BackDoor-ALI BackDoor-CEB
BackDoor-JZ Bat/Mumu.worm Exploit-DcomRpc
Exploit-LSASS IPCScan IRC/Flood.ap
IRC/Flood.bi IRC/Flood.cd NTServiceLoader
PWS-Narod PWS-Sincom.dll W32/Anig.worm
W32/Bagle@MM W32/Blaster.worm (Lovsan) W32/Bropia.worm
W32/Bugbear@MM W32/Deborm.worm.gen W32/Doomjuice.worm
W32/Dumaru W32/Elkern.cav W32/Fizzer.gen@MM
W32/FunLove W32/Klez W32/Korgo.worm
W32/Lirva W32/Lovgate W32/Mimail
W32/MoFei.worm W32/Mumu.b.worm W32/MyDoom
W32/Nachi.worm W32/Netsky W32/Nimda
W32/Pate W32/Polybot W32/Sasser.worm
W32/SirCam@MM W32/Sober W32/Sobig
W32/SQLSlammer.worm W32/Swen@MM W32/Yaha@MM
W32/Zafi W32/Zindos.worm

Some of the above may be keyloggers, but it certainly won't protect you from all known keyloggers. If they advised to use stinger seems very odd advice to me and very poor journalism.

Basically--- a keylogger is a program that records the keystrokes entered on a computer; these records can be accessed or, in the case of malware, transmitted to an outside location. Keystrokes can include your Social Security Number, Bank passwords, and other very sensitive information. Most Antivirus applications will find keyloggers, and a firewall will prevent any unauthorised transmission of information.
Hope this explains what a keylogger is and why one should be concerned about it.
Regards,
John