I heard that having a virtual machine in your pc is effective against keyloggers. How true is this? Can it really evade the screen capture and the spying that it does? I already have the Key Scrambler software that encrypts the data that I type, but of course the screen is not safe from being captured with a screenshot. Does having a virtual machine solve all these threats? Is it easy to install? I might mess up this pc, you know.
Why would you go to such extents to protect your data? Do you work for an organisation that requires it? Well I do have a VM in my PC to test out software and codes, but I find that for general usage, a VM that you run on your PC requires massive amounts of RAM and CPU power to even run smoothly, so I would not recommend using a VM as a daily driver.
I agree. I do have VM's on my machine, but they're for development and testing for my business, not for security as you mention. I also don't think they'd be truly effective at blocking keyloggers either. The drain on your system resources wouldn't be worthwhile if it's just as a level of protection. You should just do everything you can to be careful and ensure your computer is equipped with a quality virus scan and you'll be better off in my opinion.
Virtual Machine offers no protection of any kind. Let's assume that you have two operating systems on your PC. If a key-logger is installed in your machine, any time you use any of the two Operating systems, it will record whatever you'll be doing and once you connect to the net, it will transmit the data collected. What you need as it has been suggested above is good anti-virus software. And you'll be fine.
I do run a VM on my system but it's not for protection but more for application purposes. Since I run Windows 8 some old Windows application don't work properly on the new OS so having a VM to run the older applications is really helpful. And I agree with Megadelayed, unless you have some serious data to protect the you're probably off with just encryption.
I'm no expert when it comes to these things but I think a Virtual Machine won't really do you any good when it comes to security. I use VM only for software purposes, some softwares I need to test out on older version of Windows and sometimes just for making my applications portable.
I do not run a VM for protection. I use VM to run old windows os such as xp and other os like ubuntu.
I was told that someone is planning to install a keylogger in my pc, so before he does it, I want to be prepared and protected. I researched, and Key Scrambler can only encrypt what you type, but your web history is not concealed and your data can also be seen via the screenshots, so I wonder how can I either protect my data or detect the malware before I use the pc. I read that the usual anti-virus does not detect them since they are meant to be hidden, like those parental control software.
No, it won't, A Virtual Machine will let you run an Operating System which is virtually as it stated, It's the exact copy of your desktop, It is still vulnerable to keyloggers, spyware or viruses. Virtual Machine are good for testing environments.
I see. So it seems not advisable then if someone will do that for security purposes. I did found out that it is still vulnerable to malware and you should take the same precautions like you would use a regular pc. I guess I need to find a better way to avoid or detect that malware then.
Same here. I use it to keep my work separated and keep Elance trackers separated, for example (instead of taking a screenshot of my entire set of screens, it only captures what's directly in the box that it's running). I don't expect it to provide any security really. The only thing is that you can download things without that box and if it becomes an issue, you can delete the entire box instead of it infecting your entire system. So in that sense, I suppose it will restrict what happens to the rest of your system, but only if you're doing the risky stuff inside the VM.
What is that "box"? Are you referring to the Virtual Machine? Sorry, I really am new to the whole VM thing. I was just advised by someone to consider doing it for protection, and apparently, it's not a good idea.
If you mean like an actual virtual machine then I believe so yes. The kind that emulates any OS you want. I usually use it for testing Linux distros when I get bored with the one I have. They're pretty good for a sandbox type environment that you use when you want to do something risky and aren't sure if it'll blow your computer up or end up being perfectly harmless.
