CNET Editors' review
Keyloggers are sneaky little programs that can record everything you type, including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information. Although antivirus software is often able to detect and eliminate such programs once you're infected, they're not foolproof. KeyScrambler Personal promises to encrypt your keystrokes at the level of your keyboard driver and decrypt them when they reach your browser so they're visible to you. Sounds good in theory, but does it work? We can't guarantee that it's perfect, but we can say that it worked just fine when we tried it.
Obviously, if we wanted to see if KeyScrambler Personal could guard against keyloggers, we'd have to install a keylogger on our machine. We did, made sure it was logging our keystrokes, and then installed KeyScrambler Personal. The program appeared as an icon in our system tray; right-clicking on it brought up an options menu, which let us set a hot key for enabling and disabling the program and specify how we wanted the program to display when in use. We set about typing in Firefox, one of KeyScrambler Personal's supported browsers, and a small box appeared that displayed the scrambled version of the text we typed. When we opened our keylogger to see what it had captured, there was all our scrambled text in place of what we'd actually typed. It's important to remember that KeyScrambler Personal doesn't encrypt everything you do; we were still able to view the Web sites we'd visited and search engine results. But text that we'd actually typed, such as in e-mails and in-browser chats, was indeed encrypted. An online Help file gives a thorough overview of the program's use. Overall, KeyScrambler Personal was easy to use and it seemed to be effective. It's worth checking out if you want to keep what you type safe from prying eyes.
KeyScrambler Personal installs and uninstalls without issues.
Publisher's Description
From QFX Software:
KeyScrambler Personal is a free plug-in for your Web browser that protects everything you type from keyloggers. It defeats keyloggers by encrypting your keystrokes at the keyboard driver level, deep within the operating system. When the encrypted keystrokes reach your browser, KeyScrambler then decrypts them so you see exactly the keys you've typed. Keyloggers can only record the encrypted keys, which are completely indecipherable. Unlike anti-virus and anti-spyware programs that depend on recognition to remove keyloggers that they know about, KeyScrambler will protect you from both known and unknown keyloggers. What's more, KeyScrambler provides protection without getting in your way. You don't have anything to learn about the program and you don't have to do anything differently, but with KeyScrambler your important personal information will be a whole lot safer.
What's new in this version: Version 2.9.0.1:
- Added support for Firefox 8 and 9.
- Added option to not encrypt space key.
- Added option to center overlay window.
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All versions:
4.0 starsout of 469 votes
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Current version:
3.4 starsout of 16 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"Excellent Software."
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
Excellent all around program.
Cons
None at All.
Summary
I've been using this software (free version)for a few years now. I recommend it to everyone. Don't go surfing without it. Scrambles every letter that you type, within a protected zone/area or window. For lack of a better word.
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"Does not protect anything."
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
No pros of any kind.
Cons
It does not protect against key loggers. I myself wrote a small keylogger using .NET and it was able to capture every key I was typing in my browser (it even logged the scrambled text which the scrambler shows in its window). Completely lame. Does not protect at all.
Summary
Do not waste your time and get bluffed that it will protect you.
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"Excellent. Works with explorer and Firefox."
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
Loads automatically when browser starts. Transparent to user.
Cons
not compatible with chrome
Summary
Excellent product
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"BEWARE! AVOID! Product is awful and NO SUPPORT"
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
None - I have used personal and Pro
Cons
Scrambles what you type and see
Summary
I have used Personal and Pro for several years. Periodically the program goes nuts and scrambles what you type so that you see scrambled words and go nowhere. Support refuses to answer emails regarding this problem (several over the past 2 weeks).
They responded, all right - funny, after I became a little demanding. I have unloaded this piece of crap - it has gotten worse daily.
Updated on Jan 14, 2012 -
"It makes me feel more secure when I write things."
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
I like the way it encrypts my keystrokes so that it's harder for people to read what I am writing.
Cons
None that I have seen so far.
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"Best Available for Free"
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
Stops Keylogging capture of your bank account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers and usernames.
Cons
None, other than it doesn't mail me a check for the free use of it.
Summary
When I type a password or username on a non-https site, it simply encrypts my letters. What else could I want?
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"seems to work may have few password filling problems"
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
nothing has happened but not sure how much due to KeyScrambleer
Cons
slows things down a bit
Summary
it does seem to be onemore security program that has to be updated
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"Easy to use"
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
It is easy to use
Cons
At times when you are typing it will type the wrong characters and you have to start again. Internet explorer stops working at times
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"A program to give a sense of security !"
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
Can't have too much security, haven't had any security issues.
Cons
Would like to use the program on google as well as internet explorer
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"seems to work great..."
Version: KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.0.1
Pros
provides peace of mind...
Cons
Can't really tell what it's doing, but I hope it's working.
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