14 DAY TRIAL // Today's biggest computer menace is embodied by spyware. From time to time a nasty little virus breaks loose and infects a couple of thousand computers but antivirus companies are swiftly suppressing its activity with a removal tool or by quickly finding a cure and updating their database. But with spyware there is a different issue as they spread quicker than the plague and if you do not have adequate protection they can do a lot of damage.
The most sought information by spyware are personal details like usernames and passwords, but bank account numbers, credit card information are not avoided either. Just like keyloggers spyware can capture every typed key and send the information to a remote server controlled by a malevolent person. The outcome is easy to guess as there are various reports on the Internet about emptied bank accounts and loss of important personal information.
Sometimes even the fiercest protection can't handle a newly created threat floating on the Internet and then an additional solution is required. How about preventing the capturing of everything you type in various web forms and even in a text editor?
KeyGuard is such a solution that protects each keystroke from being captured with the minimum effort from the user. Contrary to what you may have expected, KeyGuard has $35 written on its price tag and a 5 days trial period or alternatively, 30 runs. This is not very comforting for testing the application, but trust me, it is enough to fully evaluate the software.
If you are thinking of using it on Vista, don't, as XP, Windows 2003, 2000 and NT are the only operating systems supported.
The application's sole purpose is to prevent the keystrokes on your computer from being captured by any keylogger or spyware. I have to say that I was a bit reticent with believing this, but after testing the application I completely changed my opinion.
There is no proper interface available and launching the application will cause for a helmet icon to appear on your desktop. Accessing its context menu will lead you right into the heart of the software, allowing access to Preferences menu, and Application Manager. These are the most important features available, but not the only ones.
Thus Secure Pad is actually a text editing window which, through its nature does not allow capturing any text. To be on the safe side you can write all your sensitive information in this pad and use the "Copy" button in the lower part of the window to snatch the text and safely paste it anywhere you want.
Preferences menu is where you can make the configuration of the entire application. The two options available cover setting up of the program and define the applications that should be excepted from KeyGuard protection.
Setting up the program includes configuring it to start with Windows, removing the splash screen at startup, enabling enhanced keystroke emulation mode, saving KeyGuard screen coordinates on exit and choosing the protection level. There are three different levels of protection available: maximum (protects every application you will type in, but it is not available in demo version), best (protects all the applications defined in Application Manager) and basic which is not recommended by the developer.
Some applications are incompatible with KeyGuard (DOS based apps) and some of them you do not want protection for. KeyGuard allows defining which programs should not be protected. Simply type in its name and then the name of the launching file and that is it, KeyGuard will no longer mind them.
It seems like the developer was in a bit of hurry as there are some spelling mistakes available in this menu. But this is no biggie because you will definitely understand the options. But more important are the protection levels. If you think of it, in demo version only one protection level is available, "Best" as "Basic" is not recommended even by the developer.
As I said before, KeyGuard will appear under the form of a helmet on your desktop. But you can change that appearance by switching to something else, like Ghost Agent or even an Alien face. The modification does not take place on the spot and a restart of the application is required.
Application Manager allows the user to enforce keystrokes protection on various applications installed on the computer. KeyGuard comes with a preset list of apps (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Outlook Express, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and mIRC) but you can also interfere and add your own softwares. Suffice to type in a name and executable and KeyGuard will take care of the rest (the program will be listed in the list in the left hand side of the window). The downside of Application Manager is that it is disabled in demo version of the software.
If you want to test KeyGuard and see how well it protects your keystrokes, try out the built-in capturing simulator. It is an app designed solely to test the functionality of KeyGuard and it'll not store any information or transmit it. During our testing it did its job well and did not show any keys typed in protected applications, but we also tested the software with a real keylogger, just to make sure that it provides genuine protection. No need to say that KeyGuard performed beautifully and no keystroke was recorded by the keylogger.
KeyGuard does a mighty fine job with keeping your keystrokes to yourselves and protecting them against any form of thievery. However, the $35 is a bit steep for the average user.
The Good
KeyGuard does exactly what it claims it can do: protects your keystrokes from being stolen. Users have the option of adding or removing applications to the protection scheme offered by the program with very little effort.
There is little input from the user as the software does almost everything. All the user needs to do is point the programs to be protected and KeyGuard will do the rest.
The Bad
You can't but notice the price tag with $35 written on it. The price is pretty steep for what the software offers.
The helmet (or whatever appearance you choose) will stay on top of all applications and this may be a bit annoying for some users. I generally prefer a system tray icon instead.
There is no Vista support.
The Truth
The program does its job, but the price is too much. True that it prevents stealing your keystrokes, but run regularly, so does an anti-spyware. And if you take into account that there are absolutely free anti-spywares on the market, and pretty powerful ones, too, than KeyGuard is really a difficult choice to make.
But, if you really need such protection, then it is worth your money. Try out the demo and test it with a real keylogger to discover its powers.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
