Today I started up the Windows Task Manager on Vista and had a small heart attack when I saw a process running called KeyboardListenerServer.exe. When I see a file name like that, the first thought I have is “Ok, that’s some sort of key-logging spyware.” I wouldn’t be that surprised to see it on someone else’s computer, but on my computer? Never! I don’t run anti-virus software and haven’t for years. Intelligent computing (using your brain) prevents 99.99% of all virus or spyware installs. I immediately did a Google to try and see what it was…and got zero results. Uh-oh. You never want to be the first guy in Google to find a virus or piece of spyware – it’s like being patient zero with Ebola; no one is going to have a cure for you, they’ll just learn from your sickness and try to help others.
At this point I’m really puzzled, but before I go diving into the system registry, I expand the description column just to see if there’s any clue about what type of spyware this is. What do I see? “Keyboard Listener Server EXE for Logitech Gadgets”. Thanks Logitech for scaring the crap out of me! It turns out it’s just the process for a Logitech Vista sidebar gadget that I added – one that keeps track of how fast I’m typing (it currently says 158 WPM – that seems a bit high) and another one that keeps track of how often I use the backspace key (currently at 6.3%). Why not give the process a name that has, oh, I don’t know, the name Logitech in it so the user knows it legitimate? Why give it such an ominous-sounding name? Why not LogitechSpeedTyper.exe or something similar? Come on Logitech, you can do better than that…