Developing Advanced Software Keylogger using Python and Creating Awareness of their Functionalities

Computers are being utilized everywhere in daily life as technology advances, and they play an important part in carrying out our normal duties. Keyboards and mice are input devices that are useful in feeding information to computers. Keyloggers (spyware or software) are a serious concern since they secretly record private data, they represent a pervasive and concerning issue in the realm of digital security. Keystroke logging, sometimes called keylogging or keyboard capture, is the process of keeping track of the keystrokes that are made on a keyboard. keyloggers come in hardware and software forms with different types. The goal of this research is to raise awareness of the capabilities of keyloggers and to build a software-based keylogger with advanced features that include capturing keystrokes, clipboard information-an image or text, system information, and, screenshots at regular intervals. The captured data is then sent through email to a third party or stored in a specific folder without the user’s knowledge. The use of Keyloggers can be occasionally justifiable for purposes like parental control and corporate surveillance but also carries the ominous potential for illicit data capture and misuse. The objective of the research is to develop an efficient software-based keylogger capable of collecting clipboard data and acquiring crucial system information. This highlights the rising complexity of keylogger technology and its potential threat to user confidentiality.