Due to their frequent giveaways last year, most of us probably have heard of — if not used — Zemana AntiLogger, a security solution that costs $29.95 per year. However, I’m sure most dotTechies have not yet heard of Zemana AntiLogger Free, the freeware version of Zemana AntiLogger.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Zemana AntiLogger Free protects users from keyloggers by encrypting keystrokes. This means that if a keylogger were to ever capture your keystrokes, it would get a bunch of gibberish instead of your actual keystrokes.

Take note that Zemana AntiLogger Free only works with physical keyboards — it won’t encrypt keystrokes from a virtual keyboard.

Pros

• Protects against most, if not all, keyloggers
• Protects keystrokes for all programs and browsers, including games
• Works side-by-side with other security programs, with little to no conflict
• Extremely easy to use — simply install and go

Cons

• Does not encrypt number pad keys (i.e. won’t encrypt numbers you type from your number pad)
• Does not have self-defense capabilities; in other words, malware can potentially shut it down

Discussion

The paid version of Zemana AntiLogger provides protection against a variety of malware. Zemana AntiLogger Free, on the other hand, is specifically for the purposes of protecting users from keyloggers. Similar to KeyScrambler, Zemana AntiLogger Free encrypts keystrokes as you type — ensuring that if you are infected with a keylogger, the keylogger will only capture gibberish. The keystrokes are properly decrypted for use by the program you are typing in, so Zemana AntiLogger Free does not interfere with your typing.

Zemana AntiLogger Free protects keystrokes for all programs on your computer, including games — it isn’t limited to only specific browsers like KeyScrambler Free. And, AntiLogger Free works side-by-side with other security programs (like your anti-virus) without any issues… assuming you aren’t already using a keystroke encryption program.

The best part? Zemana AntiLogger Free is extremely easy to use. Simply install it and let it do its thing — you don’t need to even recognize its existence after installation.

Zemana says they have designed AntiLogger Free to encrypt keystrokes “at the deepest place in the kernel” and they have “tested [AntiLogger Free] against all public kernel level rootkits with keylogging capabilities, and none were able to capture keystrokes”. So AntiLogger Free should protect against any and all keyloggers, and during my brief test it did protect me just fine. However, it not impossible that some clever scumbag might develop a way to go even deeper than AntiLogger Free so don’t think AntiLogger Free is foolproof protection against keyloggers.

That being said, there are two potentially fatal flaws with AntiLogger Free.

The first flaw is AntiLogger Free does not “does not encrypt number pad keys, control sequences like CTRL + X, ENTER, and SPACE”. It isn’t a big deal that AntiLogger Free doesn’t encrypt control sequence keystrokes, but not encrypting number keys? Really? To be fair, AntiLogger Free does encrypt numbers when typed from the number row at the top of your keyboard but it does not encrypt numbers when typed from the number pad (I tested this to make sure). Does Zemana not understand how many people type numbers from the number pad and how important these numbers are? Credit card numbers? Birthdays? Social Security numbers? Fail, Zemana. For what it is worth, Zemana says the Beta version of AntiLogger Free does not encrypt number pad keys, meaning maybe when it comes out of Beta AntiLogger Free will encrypt number pad keys. Only time will tell.

The second flaw is AntiLogger Free has no self defense mechanisms. In other words, it cannot prevent malware from shutting it down. If you ever happen to download a keylogger that has the ability to close AntiLogger Free, you are screwed.

Conclusion and download link

Zemana AntiLogger Free is a valiant effort by Zemana to provide free antilogger protection to the masses. However, not encrypting number pad keys and not having self defense mechanism makes this program a “close but no cigar” type ordeal. I really like how AntiLogger Free encrypts keystrokes for all programs (and not just specific browsers like KeyScrambler Free) but I certainly won’t be depending on AntiLogger Free to protect me until it starts to encrypt all keystrokes — including the number pad ones.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: v1.0.1.866 Beta

Supported OS: Windows XP and higher

Download size: 2.9 MB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/43

Portability: Is not portable

Zemana AntiLogger Free homepage