Monitoring Employee Productivity

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Using a Hardware Keylogger for

Monitoring Employee Productivity

Why monitor your staff? ................................................ 2

Cost saving solution ...................................................... 3

How it works in practice ................................................. 5

KeyDemon product overview........................................... 9

Corporate offer ...........................................................11

Legal disclaimer ..........................................................12

Monitoring Employee Productivity

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Why monitor your staff? The Internet of the XXI century provides an extreme amount of on-line entertainment

activities, available at a few simple mouse-clicks. The list is already long and it’s growing

year by year:

Web browsing

Social networking, such as FaceBook, Twitter

On-line entertainment, such as gaming, YouTube, blogs

Private E-mail correspondence

Instant messaging

Skype

File sharing over P2P networks

Most of these technologies were created for the benefit of their users, usually charging

no money for unlimited access. But what’s good for some, may cause problems for

others. Research has shown, that up to 30% of the staffs working time is lost due to

misuse of Internet-related technologies. Given that employee wages may greatly

contribute to the operating costs of small and mid-sized companies, this effects in huge

losses.

Not only does this lead to billions of dollars loss worldwide due to the decreased

productivity, but is often connected with illegal activities, such as file-sharing of

copyrighted contents. In all cases, it is the employer who will have to deal with the costs

of misusing corporate equipment and infrastructure.

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Cost saving solution

There are many ways to tackle the problem. Solutions range from blocking Internet

access to planning workspace in a way optimized for supervision. However an extremely

simple solution exists, coming at a very low cost, that barely known to most employers:

hardware keyloggers.

What is a hardware keylogger? A hardware keylogger is an electronic device capable of

capturing keystrokes from a PS/2 or USB keyboard. It is a multi-purpose keystroke

logger which can ideally fit the application of monitoring employee productivity. A

hardware video-logger is a similar device, however captures entire screenshots, instead

of just keystrokes. A video-logger is in fact a tiny frame-grabber capable of capturing

screenshots from a VGA, DVI, or HDMI video source.

Hardware keyloggers (USB type)

Hardware video-logger (DVI type)

Install key-logging and video-logging devices on company computers, and clearly inform

the users about it. Research conducted on computer users has shown that just the sole

possibility of being monitored will prevent using corporate equipment for private

purposes.

Hardware keylogger

monitoring notice

Hardware video-logger

monitoring notice

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Keyloggers and video-loggers are perfect tools for performing this type of tasks:

Very easy to install

Cost-optimized

Secured by hardware means

Operating system independent

Easy to handle and maintain

Setting up hardware key logging or hardware video-logging system can be done in

minutes.

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How it works in practice Installing a hardware keylogger is a 15-second task. No drivers or software are

necessary. In fact, the computer doesn’t even need to be switched on. Simply plug the

keylogger in between the keyboard and the port. The keylogger will automatically start

recording all data typed on the keyboard to the internal flash disk.

Once data has been captured in record mode, you can retrieve it on any computer with a

USB port. This is done by switching to Flash Drive mode. The USB hardware keylogger

and keyboard should be connected in the same way, as in record mode. Each device has

a built-in 3-key combination (by default K, B, S). Press these 3 magic keys

simultaneously to trigger Flash Drive mode. The keylogger will automatically respond as

a mass storage device. The Flash Drive will contain the file LOG.TXT with a text log of all

captured data. Keystroke data is formatted in the same as it would appear on the screen,

with special keys in brackets ([Ent], [Esc], [Del] etc.). This file can be viewed and

searched with any text editor, such as Notepad or MS Word.

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A PS/2 keylogger works similarly. The main difference is that there are 2 ways for

retrieving the data. Once data has been captured, you can retrieve it on any other

computer by invoking a text-menu. The PS/2 hardware keylogger and keyboard should

be connected in the same way, as in record mode. Press these 3 magic keys

simultaneously to trigger the text-menu. The text-menu offers a variety of view, search,

and configuration options.

The USB Download Accelerator included with every device provides an alternative data

retrieve method to the text-menu. The USB Download Accelerator allows super-fast

retrieve of the entire data log file via USB. Connect the keylogger to any free USB port,

using the provided USB Download Accelerator.

The logger will automatically respond as a mass storage device. The Flash Drive will

contain the file LOG.TXT with a text log of all data captured in record mode. Copying this

file to your hard drive will take a few seconds. The LOG.TXT file may be later viewed and

searched with any text editor, such as Notepad.

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KeyDemon also offers a variety of Wi-Fi keyloggers, such as the KeyDemon Wi-Fi

Premium of KeyDemon Nano Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi keyloggers incorporate a built-in WLAN

transceiver and TCP/IP stack, meaning it can connect to the Internet through a Wi-Fi

Access Point. To do that, you must provide it some basic data, such as the Network ID

and password (just like any WLAN device). Once connected to an Access Point, the

keylogger will start sending E-mail reports with captured keystroke data to any recipient

E-mail address you supply. This means you can keep track of what's happening on the

monitored computer from any place throughout the world, just by checking your mailbox!

KeyDemon Wi-Fi keyloggers also features a TCP/IP interface, for on-demand access at

any time. You can remotely download recorded data from the keylogger, using special

software delivered with the device. The control software can communicate with multiple

Wi-Fi hardware keyloggers, allowing to create entire networks of wireless keyloggers.

The VideoGhost video-logger is an innovative tiny frame-grabber, hidden inside a

standard video cable. It may capture the video signal of a computer or laptop. The built-

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in powerful FPGA chip and microprocessor enable it to convert the captured video signal

to a JPEG image, and store it to the internal 2 Gigabyte flash drive. The VideoGhost is a

purely electronic device, meaning it requires no software or drivers, and does not

interfere with the standard video transmission to the monitor or TV.

Getting the device running is very simple: just plug the video-logger in-between the

video output socket and monitor or TV. Then connect the USB cable to a free USB socket

(this is for powering the device only).

Retrieving screenshots is very similar to using a digital camera. Use the personal USB

key, delivered with the device, and connect it to a computers USB port. The video-logger

will pop-up as a removable drive, containing captured screenshots as JPEG files. The files

will contain embedded time and date information.

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KeyDemon product overview The following table presents an overview of the basic keylogger types offered by

KeyDemon.

Memory

size

Color

options

USB Flash

Drive mode

Date and

time- stamping

Wireless

LAN module

KeyDemon USB

4 MB (32 Mbit)

2 GB

(16 Gbit)

Black

White

- -

KeyDemon Nano USB

8 MB (64 Mbit)

Black

White

- -

KeyDemon PS/2

4 MB (32 Mbit)

2 GB

(16 Gbit)

Black

Purple

Gray

- -

KeyDemon TimeKeeper USB

2 GB (16 Gbit)

Black

White

-

KeyDemon TimeKeeper PS/2

2 GB (16 Gbit)

Black

Purple

Gray

-

KeyDemon Nano Wi-Fi USB

8 MB (64 Mbit)

Black

White

-

KeyDemon Wi-Fi Premium USB

2 GB (16 Gbit)

Black

White

KeyDemon Wi-Fi Premium PS/2

2 GB (16 Gbit)

Black

Purple

Gray

The following table presents an overview of the basic video-logger types offered by

KeyDemon.

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Version Applications

DVI 2 GB

(16 Gbit)

Computers or laptops with digital DVI output (large white rectangular plug)

White Gray Black

HDMI 2 GB

(16 Gbit)

Computers or laptops with digital HDMI output (small flat plug)

Black Gray

VGA 2 GB

(16 Gbit)

Computers or laptops with analog VGA output

(old-style 15-pin blue plug)

Blue Gray Black

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Corporate offer

KeeLog offers 3 types of solutions for enhancing employee performance in corporations.

In each solution, every computer is secured with a single monitoring unit. A monitoring

unit may be a hardware keylogger, a combination of a hardware keylogger and a

hardware video-logger, or a wireless keylogger.

Keylogging

Solution

Wireless

Keylogging

Solution

Videologging & Keylogging

Solution

Unit type KeyDemon 4 MB (USB or PS/2)

KeyDemon Wi-Fi Premium 2 GB

(USB or PS/2)

VideoGhost 2 GB

(DVI, HDMI, or VGA) and

KeyDemon 4 MB

(USB or PS/2)

Recommended

number of units Up to 20 Above 5 Up to 20

Available data Keystroke log Keystroke log with

time-stamping

Keystroke log and

screenshots with time-

stamping

Data retrieve

method

Collect log files in

Flash drive mode

Remotely download

log files over Wi-Fi

network

Collect log files and

screenshots in Flash

drive mode

Contact the KeeLog sales department to obtain more details and a quote.

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Legal disclaimer We do not take responsibility for any damage, harm or legal actions caused by misuse of

keylogging and video-logging products. The user should follow the guidelines contained in

this document, otherwise no liability will be assumed. It is the user's responsibility to obey all

effective laws in his/her country, which may prohibit usage of such products. Please also

consider, that not knowing the law does not allow to not obeying it. A good example is the

U.S. Department of Justice Letter on Keystroke Monitoring and Login Banners, according to

which a clear notice should be displayed, warning that user keystrokes may be logged.

Please check with your legal representative for logging requirements in your country.

Monitoring Employee Productivity

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Notes:

European Office KeeLog Lekcyjna 42 PL 51-169 Wroclaw Poland http://www.keelog.com/ keelog@keelog.com

U.S. Office Aqua Electronics 1550 Louis Ave. Elk Grove Village, IL. 60007 U.S.A http://www.keydemon.com/ keydemon@keydemon.com

RoHS Copyright © 2004-2011. All rights reserved.