i'm relatively new to linux (redhat 7), and i'm very disappointed that i cannot find a keystroke logger. i would have expected there to be hundreds of perl scripts and/or packages available for download somewhere that monitors local keyboard signals and logs them to a plain text file. that's all i'm looking to do. although i've never used them, there are about 12 programs for windows that do this. i've searched google for hours, scoured freshmeat and slashdot for references, and come up with nothing similar for linux. can anyone help? has anyone heard or or written something like this? thanks.

paul

I just found a utility that enables you to replace the login call from getty and call another program that will let a user watch the activity on the tty. I thought about it for a second and thought what type of big brother crap is this.

I'll let someone else tell you how to do this.

hey, i am trying it implement this on my own personal local machine, which no one uses but me. i have no inclination to spy on anybody. my reason for wanting this is because i think it would be like bash history logging on steriods, and would be very helpful just to grep such a log in order to recall things that i've done in the past and had forgotten. just to set the record straight.

Take a look up ttysnoop at the following site:

http://packetstorm.securify.com/UNIX/IDS/indexdl.shtml

It's not exactily what you are looking for, but it's a start. It could most likely be modified to log to a file. Also try searching google for "tty logger"

thanks man.

I,too, am looking for a keystroke logger and also an internet monitor on my personal box. I've asked on other forums and really been flamed. I've scoured google and emailed software companies without any luck.

I really do want to convert my box to total linux but I want to be able to monitor(not block) where my kids are going. I'm running Mandrake 10.

Any ideas for a linux newb?

I'm looking for a good linux keystroke logger. I have a daughter who is getting out of control and I want to make sure she's not doing anything illegal. I may have found one, but am not sure I trust it. Why is everyone afraid to talk about it?

I can't speak for all, but I find the mere idea of a keystroke logger an invasion of privacy... not to mention the feeling of not being trusted in the least...

I just personally find the concept unsettling, and I really don't see the point, or the need to monitor EVERY keystroke made by any user

Well, when it comes to a daughter who has already been told that she's lost our trust, we've tried everything but invading the privacy. In fact, she may never get to borrow the car again unless I can be sure she isn't planning to do anything stupid. When she's 18 and moved out, she can have all the privacy she wants.

If you don't see the reason for it, you've never had roomates like I have. I had a roomate that hacked my passwords in windows before I switched to Linux. After he moved out, I cleaned up my computer and found a couple of hacking programs and a few videos of little girls undressing.

I have a right to know what's being done on my computer, especially from a minor that we are responsible for.

Trust must be earned. Fortunately for my daughter, I don't trust the writer of the program I found either. I'm studying package management by package_name:install_group permissions. I don't want this program doing anything beyond my control. For all I know, I could be installing someone's rootkit.

OK. same here, I have a daughter who can not be completely trusted. She is 12. She has been known to chat with 28 year old men. I'm about to install mandrake 10.

I hate windows, the aforementioned daughter is a spam/spybot/adware magnet so we must get away from windows.

Let me just start the flamewar myself: People who put their niave idealistic dillusions about privacy ahead of the safety of children ought not waste their time telling me i'm doing something wrong.

The folks in the other camp (responsble parents) can email me privately with whatever solutions they have found

bigbrother@davesilva.com

Thanks

i'm not a great friend of the idea of controlling somebody else's keyboard entries, but I sure undestand the problem that triggl and hertfordnc have.

I would recommend a fake_windows emulator and a normal windows keystroke logger. I'm not completely satisfied with the result and I'm still working on it, but I don't see a different, safe option.

m8y

If they use a shell you could have a look at "man script". I've used it myself sometimes for making a howto for a friend as it also saves the output of the commands.

Speaking as a 48 year old man who periodically chats with teenage girls who I know personally and have mentored, I have to say that this is not *necessarily* a problem, though I certainly understand your concern.

To completely solve this problem while still using Windows (though I would never try to talk you out of switching), just use Win2K or XP, and establish a "limited" account for your daughter. As an administrator, run spywareblaster. Install and use Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware. Keep your antivirus software up to date. Install a hardware firewall between the computer and the internet. Install a software firewall (I recommend Zone Alarm, not the Windows firewall) on the computer.

Stop using Internet Exploder. Stop using Outlook Express. Replace them with Mozilla and its client or Firefox and some other email client.

When your daughter has only a user ("limited") account and you do these other things to secure the system, you will find that you won't have problems with spyware, adware, trojans, etc.

As a parent who has been through the cycle and come out the other with pretty responsible adult children I can offer some advice (although I don't think they were as bad as a few of you are intimating here). I carefully monitored the sites they had been visiting (through browser history) and tried to have "open" conversations with them about high risk enviroments.
Here is a trick that you may not be aware of and is applicable in the M$ environment as well as the nix environment. In nix there is a file /etc/hosts and if you don't want people visiting a given domain then tell the host to resolve that address to localhost then the user will not be able to visit it. For example I hate all the ads that occur so I have a list of ad servers that are all blocked. Basically the entry looks like this;

0.0.0.0 download.abetterinternet.com #[Adware.StopPopupAdsNow]

if you want to read more about using this then go to;

http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/#how

Basically you can block any address you want to.