Are On-Screen Keyboards Really More Secure?

Question

A quick question: I use on-screen keyboard when entering my bank passwords, credit card numbers, etc., in an effort to guard against malware. Is this a good idea or am I wasting my time? Some internet banking website have an on-screen keyboard for entering in a password are these any more secure?

Answer 1

The built-in on-screen keyboard that comes with many operating systems is designed to help people who are unable to use a physical keyboard because of disabilities. Due to this, an on-screen keyboard behaves as much like a real keyboard as possible and it's activity will most likely be logged by a keylogger.

On-screen keyboards specifically designed for security (on a bank's website, for example) are a different story and are likely more secure against keyloggers.

http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791931

Answer 2

On-screen keyboards prevent a keyboard dongle from recording your keystrokes. There are other methods for recording keystrokes an on-screen keyboard will not prevent, though.

Answer 3

Note that an OSK is not secured against things that also track mouse movements, though figuring out what you clicked is much harder. I like to keep parts of my password in autohotkey hotstrings. (because "password" is so much easier to work out than "p66j#wokk#d")

Answer 4

Using an on-screen keyboard would make your password readable by people with no connection to your computer. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Eck_phreaking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEMPEST#Public_research