Hotkey programs

[pjpw]

Does the use of hotkey programs to enter sensitive passwords etc provide any extra protection against keylogger or similar programs?

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,
Depends on what those programs can do, and depends on what the keylogger can do.
Mrk

[Devinco]

Welcome to Wilders pjpw.

No they don't provide any extra protection against keyloggers.
You should assume that once the keylogger is in place, it will monitor all the methods that the hotkey program will use to "type" the password.
It is better to stop the keylogger from getting installed in the first place.
Anti-Keyloggers may help here and programs including Process Guard and the like.

While you're at it, you may want to use a dedicated password manager to store your passwords rather than a hotkey program. Hotkey programs often have weak or no encryption and were designed for utility rather than security. Programs like KeePass, Password Safe, and RoboForm were made for passwords so more thought was put into protecting them. It is not just the encryption algorithm, it is how the algorithm is implemented that makes a big difference.

While password managers will not protect you from keyloggers, they are convenient and allow you to protect your web accessible accounts with complex difficult passwords. This makes it harder for them to attack the account. You can also change passwords frequently (as most recommend) without straining to remember them all.