DE102020118580A1 - Method and apparatus for processing keyboard input in a window system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a method for processing keyboard input in a window system with the following features: The input focus is shifted during keyboard input (11) in a random alternation between a confidential text input field (12, 13) and another text input field (12, 13). ; and while the further text input field (12, 13) has the input focus, further keyboard inputs are emulated in the window system. The invention further provides a corresponding apparatus, a corresponding computer program and a corresponding storage medium.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for processing keyboard input in a window system. The present invention also relates to a corresponding device, a corresponding computer program and a corresponding machine-readable storage medium.

State of the art

In computer security, any hardware or software that logs what a user is typing on a computer's keyboard for surveillance purposes is collectively referred to as a keylogger.

So-called software keyloggers replace parts of a specific operating system (OS), read the keystrokes registered at the input interface and, after recording, pass them on to the operating system. For the end user monitored in this way, the logging that has taken place is not immediately recognizable, since the operating system and applications react to his inputs in the usual way.

In US2008289035 , US2016117510 , US8799809 , US2005262555 such as US2009271866 In each case, a program for protecting against the recording of passwords as they are entered is discussed. According to US2008289035 , US2016117510 and US8799809 random keystrokes are generated to hide or disguise the password.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method for processing a keyboard input in a window system, an apparatus, a computer program and a storage medium according to the independent claims.

A benefit of this solution is the improved protection of the user against malicious software that records confidential data, such as e.g. B. login information, card numbers, passwords or uniform resource locators (URLs) in the form of so-called links.

Further advantageous refinements of the invention are specified in the dependent patent claims. Thus, the proposed method can be used by manufacturers of protection software as part of the technology contained therein to combat keyloggers, but can also be offered as a stand-alone product in its original form. Such software can theoretically be used on any operating system that requires keyboard input.

character list

• Die einzige Figur zeigt das Blockdiagramm eines Verfahrens gemäß einer Ausführungsform.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is described in more detail below.

• The only figure shows the block diagram of a method according to an embodiment.

Embodiments of the invention

The figure illustrates the functioning of a method (10) according to the invention based on the exemplary password entry “abcd” in a window system such as the X Window System (X11) or the Windows Presentation Foundation.

In the present embodiment, its input focus is directed to the confidential text input field (13) by a mouse click (click to focus) before the keyboard input. Depending on the underlying window system and its setting, the input focus may be directed to the confidential text input field (13) simply by positioning the mouse pointer accordingly (focus follows mouse) or it may remain on the last active window (sloppy focus).

During the keyboard input (11), the input focus is shifted in a randomly controlled, arbitrary change between the confidential text input field (13) and another text input field (12) used only within the scope of the invention - typically in another window of the system. While the latter field (12) is in the input focus, another randomly controlled keyboard entry overlaying the password (in this example: #${pqajasdadnkln23123@#$sf123asd="123) is emulated in the window system, which does not correspond to the confidential text input field ( 13), but to the currently active additional text input field (12).

The emulation of the keyboard input takes place on a comparatively hardware level - for example that of a modified keyboard driver - in such a way that a possible keylogger is not able to distinguish the randomly "interspersed" additional keyboard input from the "real" keyboard input made by the user. The data (11) recorded by the keylogger thus forms an apparently random character string that includes the individual characters “a”, “b”, “c” and “d” of the actual password at irregular positions that the keylogger cannot recognize. These are the characters physically "typed" by the user within the keylogger total logged keyboard input (11) are graphically highlighted in the figure by their outlines.

The confidential text input field (13) can be, for example, a control element (window gadget, widget) of an application or a web browser intended for entering a password. It goes without saying that the confidential text input field (13) may also be set up for keyboard entry of registration data, card numbers or URLs without departing from the scope of the invention.

QUOTES INCLUDED IN DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents cited by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent Literature Cited

• US2008289035 [0004]
• US2016117510 [0004]
• US8799809 [0004]
• US2005262555 [0004]
• US2009271866 [0004]

Claims (10)

Method (10) for processing a keyboard input (11) in a window system, characterized by the following features: - the input focus is automatically shifted during the keyboard input (11) in an arbitrary change between a confidential text input field (13) and another text input field (12). and - while the further text input field (12) is in the input focus, a further keyboard input (11) is emulated in the window system. Method (10) according to claim 1 , characterized by the following feature: - the confidential text input field (13) and the further text input field (12) are assigned to different windows of the window system. Method (10) according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized by one of the following features: - the confidential text input field (13) is a control of an application or - the confidential text input field (13) is a control of a web browser. Method (10) according to any one of Claims 1 until 3 , characterized by at least one of the following features: - the confidential text input field (13) is set up for the keyboard input (11) of registration data, - the confidential text input field (13) is set up for the keyboard input (11) of card numbers, - the confidential text input field (13) is set up for keyboard input (11) of passwords or - the confidential text input field (13) is set up for keyboard input (11) of resource pointers. Method (10) according to any one of Claims 1 until 4 , characterized by at least one of the following features: - the further keyboard input (11) is generated randomly or pseudo-randomly or - the input focus is changed randomly or pseudo-randomly. Method (10) according to any one of Claims 1 until 5 , characterized by the following feature: - the input focus is directed to the confidential text input field (13) by a mouse click before the keyboard input (11). Method (10) according to any one of Claims 1 until 6 , characterized by the following feature: - the keyboard input (11) is alphanumeric. Device for carrying out a method (10) according to one of Claims 1 until 7 , characterized by the following features: - means for shifting the input focus between a confidential text input field (12, 13) and a further text input field (12, 13) in a random alternation and - means for emulating a further keyboard input into the window system, while the further text input field (12, 13) has the input focus. Computer program which is set up to carry out all the steps of a method (10) according to one of Claims 1 until 7 to perform. Machine-readable storage medium with a computer program stored on it claim 9 .

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