How to Install Keystroke Recorders The bellow descriptor is largely dealing with how to install keystroke recorders on secured systems. It does not focus on how to crack any particular security program, but tries rather to focus on how to bypass common features of several programs that are made to keep you from screwing up the computer. And even though the file describes only how to install keystroke recorders, you can use the techniques below for heaps of other things as well! So if you want a common knowledge on how to copy things to and from a secured system then read on! --==Intro==-- Some of the easiest hacking utilities you can find are keystroke recorders. These are little gadgets, usually extensions or control panels, that record every key that was pressed on the keyboard. The uses for these are self explanatory ranging from reading people’s mail, to getting people’s (administrator’s) passwords. These recorders usually record the different keystrokes to a file which is saved in some remote folder on the server, where the administrator is unlikely to look. For example InvisibleOasis saves the recorded strokes to a text file in a folder within the preferences folder. And unless the admin is really looking for it, he/she will unlikely be going through the Preferences folder. So after a day or two you can go and have a feast on the information stored in these! One question that tends to arise with these, however, is how to install them. After all you would not need a keystroke recorder if you knew how to bypass the security! (From now on when I’m talking about a keystroke recorder, I’ll be talking about InvisibleOasis, in it’s compressed form) --==Install Straight from a Disk==-- The first and maybe the most easiest way is to just pop the installer on a floppy disk and double click on the icon, then install it to the selected drive. Now this works great if you actually are the admin, and want to get other people’s passwords. Usually you are not, however, and since not too many security programs are lame enough to allow you to launch programs from a disk, this seldomly works. With other words, you need to bypass the security program. --==Installing from a CD ROM==-- Most security programs however allow you to run programs from CD ROMs. This can be handy if you have a CD ROM burner at home. Just burn the key nabber onto the CD and run the installer from there. However, since most of us don’t posses one of those burners (well maybe I’m wrong on this one...), here are some other options. --==Installing from the Harddrive==-- If the security program allows you to copy application files to the harddrive, and allows you to launch applications from there, then once again, your in luck. Just copy the installer to the harddrive and run it. This should automatically install Invisible Oasis to your extensions folder. --==Changing the Type and Creator==-- If the security program’s a real bitch and does not even allow you to copy applications, then we got to do a bit of editing to the installer before we can put it on the harddrive. In another article of mine I described how you can change the “type” and “creator” of a file as security precautions. This can come handy since by changing the “type” from “APPL” to “ttro” and the “creator” from “STiO” to “ttxt”, what you do is to lure the MacOs into thinking that the installer of InvisibleOasis, is actually a read - only, Simple Text file. Now why do you need to do this? Cause now the stupid security program will allow you to copy the file onto the harddrive! And once it’s there you only need to convert the “type” and “creator” to what it was before (APPL and STiO for those of you with logical problems). You can do this by finding some application that is located on the harddrive and which you can actually be launched, like Norton Utilities, ResEdit, GetInfoExtreeme, and a zillion other warez that allow you to do this. If you looked real hard and can’t find anything that allows you to convert back the installer, then pop down to your local computer magazine store, get a hold of a Mag with a CD ROM full of shareware, and find one an application that allows you to modify the “type” and “creator” of a file. And if you were paying attention, you would know that since the security program will probably allow you to run stuff from a CD ROM, you should be able to revert the settings by running the application from the CD. --==Installing the Extension Itself==-- Then again it might happen that the security program does not allow you to run an alien application on the hard drive either, in which case we have to modify the above procedure a bit. First you’ll need to decompress the installer on you own hard drive. Then make the InvisibleOasis file visible (it’s located as an invisible file in your extensions folder) and instead of doing all that bullocks described above with the installer file, you do it to the extension itself. With other words you modify the “type” and “creator” of the extension, and copy it straight to the extensions folder. --==Running Things From a Server==-- When you’re not able to run an application from neither a disk nor a CD try running it from the server! Use the above methods to copy the desired application to the server, and try running it from there! This might be useful if you need to see the keystroke files or if you need to mess around with the type and creator of a file, or whatever! --==When You Can’t Access the Finder==-- (Or if none of the above works) Then there are some other lame programs that don’t even allow you to get to the finder. At Ease would be one of these for example, but I won’t even start to discuss how to bypass these. You can find tons of stuff on this topic. But if you desperately need to install the key nabber, but can’t get access to the extensions folder or something, try one of the following: Restart with the shift button down - disables only the lamest of security software Restart with a bootup disk holding down the apple + shift + option + delete buttons - this will force your computer to boot up from an external source. However, your hard drive might not show up this way. Restart simply from a boot disk Try force quitting the security application (apple + option + esc) Go to your local store and buy a hammer that you can smash up that damn machine with! --==Using Programs to Access the Keystroke Files==-- Some security programs like Mac Control won’t let you see the system folder. What a bugger! But with Norton Disk Editor you can actually see whatever is in there. So if you do manage to install the key nabber, but won’t be able to access the prefs folder normally, you’ll just have to use Disk Editor to do it. Another handy utility that I advise everyone to get is File Buddy!!! Great stuff, and with this piece of software you might actually be able to copy straight in and out of the system folder. --==And When Nothing Else Works...==-- And as some final resorts you might try convincing the admin to disable the security while you “need to do something” (installing InvisibleOasis dork!). Here are some few excuses you may use: “Mr. admin, the hard drive is full, and I’d like to throw away some unnecessary files. Could you please disable the security program?” “Ms. admin, I saved my 6000 word essay somewhere and somebody dislocated it to the system folder, so can you please turn of ... while I go and retrieve it?” All right here’s a good one! For this you’ll need to have a friend (is that so much to ask?) and that Virex is installed on the computer your friend is working on. I described how to make Virex think that there is a virus on any disk you insert to the diskdrive in my doc about types and creators. So do that on your friend’s computer, and use some excuse to make the admin disable the security on your computer. Now the second he (the admin) is done (timing is important here) make your friend put in a disk into the diskdrive, and as it is scanned and the virus found make him scream real loud “Oh my God there’s a virus on my disk! Ms. Admin what shall I do!!!” If everything goes according to plan, the admin should turn her immediate attention to the guy with the virus, which will leave you plenty of time to install the key nabber! (If you didn’t get that I’m sorry, read it again and try to make sense from it) All right that’s all I can think of at the moment. Let me know if you can figure out anything else! You can e-mail me at ProZaq@hotmail.com ProZaq