Build an Advanced Keylogger using C++ for Ethical Hacking!

Take this course to learn how to code a fully functional keylogger in C++ for use in Windows!

Created byErmin Kreponic, Aldin Omerdic

Last updated 9/2016

English

What you'll learn

A fully functional keylogger built from scratch in C++!
Feel confident in coding similar programs in C++.
A custom keylogger made for use in Windows compiled in the latest version of C++.
Get answers to every question you ask about C++ and about making this keylogger!

Course content

12 sections • 35 lectures • 7h 17m total length

Thank you for taking this course! Here is what you get out of it!1:26
Introduction16:33
Welcome all to this intro. Here I will describe this course/project. My name is Ermin and I will be your instructor for this course. In this course I will teach you how to create an advanced keylogger.

This keylogger is capable of recording more or less all the keyboard and mouse input independent of the language settings as it records the physical keys on the keyboard first, and then, by using an arbitrary keymap with human friendly names, it translates the machine keys to something that we can understand. It also possesses mail sending capabilities so you can just schedule the logfile to be sent via mail, lets say every 12 hours. In addition to this, it will also keep the logfile encrypted. Therefore, we will create another program which will be able to decrypt the logfile on your end. Please do not abuse the knowledge you get from this course as it can get you in a big trouble. Do not use this keylogger for any illegal or immoral purposes. You do not have my permission to do so. In fact, I am explicitly asking you not to do it. This is only for educational purposes. The keylogger that you are going to see will be able to cause some serious damage, so please use it in a legal and responsible way. Some future features that will be added to the keylogger will include but are not limited to taking screenshots, capturing clipboard content (copy-paste), recording website URLs, and so on.

If you have any suggestions in regard to the functionalists of the keylogger, feel free to send me a message or post your requests here.

KeyConstants part 113:00
We will use this header in order to map the system names of the physical keys of the keyboard to human friendly names. In essence, we are just doing some translation here. At the moment, it is configured to US keyboard if I am not mistaken. If you are wondering why I am uncertain of this, it is primarily because I am too lazy to check which keymap does the current version contain because I have tested it out with different keyboards and different keymaps to make sure that it does function. This doesn't matter that much because you can translate system names for the keys pretty much any way you want so that it can fit more or less any language configuration.
KeyConstants part 25:55

Encryption part 112:18
We will use the Base64 header in order to encrypt the keylogger's logfiles. The header contains a list of functions used for encrypting logfiles. We use our own custom encryption in conjunction with Base64 encoding. There is one function for Base64 encoding and another for the encryption of data. We are obscuring Base64 encoding with arbitrary salts to make the decoding process pretty much impossible. Without knowing the exact positions of salts and the exact arbitrary salts it is pretty much not possible to reverse the procedure. The encryption process is also arbitrary and can easily be modified, but the modifications have to match the decryption procedure as well. Please feel free to attempt to break this encryption and please let us know if you manage to do it. Now you might ask yourselves for what we are using encryption here. Well, for two reasons: first, if the user by some chance manages to find the file on the system, they won't be able to see what is in the file – they will only junk. Secondly, since the file is going to be sent via mail, nobody should be able to read it aside from you.
Encryption part 213:41
Encryption part 315:22

IO Header part 114:45
This header will be used for all of our input/output operations. It is also used for the creation of the file where the keylogger will store recorded keystrokes. In order to achieve this, it works in conjunction with functions from Base64 and Helper headers. It creates a string of characters which contains keystrokes and then outputs them to a file. In the process of outputting, it uses the functions from Base64 header in order to encrypt the contents of the string. Since we need to create a path for the file, there are failsafe mechanisms which ensure the creation of the path with all its subdirectories.
IO Header part 215:48

Timer Header Intro8:51
We will use the Timer header in order to determine the precise time intervals for the execution of our threads. We will use a good amount of things from c++ 11 in order to achieve precise time measurements. This header will also be used in future for various sorts of triggers and at the moment it is also used for the send mail intervals.
Timer Header part 113:23
Timer Header part 218:47
Timer Header part 35:56

SendMail intro6:58
The SendMail header is used for sending emails. It achieves this by possessing a hardcoded powershell script in the form of a string which it uses to create a file by outputting this string to a file and creating that powershell script. That script is then invoked in order to send an email. This is one of the main reasons why this program will not work to an extent on XP and Vista. It primarily works on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. There was an idea of creating our own mail client, but due to the fact that all the email service providers out there use one encryption or another, the implementation of those encryption procedures would consume too much time and not to mention that the code would be significantly longer!
SendMail PowerShell Script part 119:46
SendMail PowerShell Script part 211:22
SendMail part 318:42
SendMail part 419:44
SendMail part 55:00
SendMail part 617:08

KeyboardHook part 119:03
This header is used for capturing keystrokes. It uses hooks in order to capture physical keys on the keyboard. Due to this fact, it is not relevant which keyboard does a user use. It will always be able to record the physical buttons that are pressed. The awesome thing about it is that we are able to record all the special characters and keys like shift, space, enter, alt, sleep button, mouse clicks, etc. We wont need to record all of these, but we will use them as triggers later on for certain actions like taking screenshots. Due to the nature of the hooks in Windows and what they are used for, the keylogger does not do anything out of the ordinary when compared to most of the other programs on the system.
KeyboardHook part 219:17
KeyboardHook part 38:32
Main Function5:03

Requirements

This course will be much easier if you have some prior knowledge of C++.

Description

If you want to learn to code at an advanced level in C++ or build your own fully functional advanced keylogger from scratch for learning ethical hacking, I think you might love this course! In this course you will see exactly how to create an advanced keylogger starting from nothing by literally following the steps I take as I make it!

This keylogger is capable of recording all the keyboard and mouse input! It can even record independent of the language settings because it logs the physical keys on the keyboard first. Next, by using an arbitrary keymap with human friendly names, it translates the machine keys to something that we can understand. It also possesses mail sending capabilities so you can just schedule the logfile to be sent via mail, lets say every 12 hours. In addition to this, it will also keep the logfile encrypted. Therefore, we will create another program which will be able to decrypt the logfile on your end.

For learning C++, this is an ideal course because it is completely hands on learning that provides a functional end product! Some future features that will be added to the keylogger course as I develop them will include but are not limited to taking screenshots, capturing clipboard content (copy-paste), recording website URLs, and so on! Take this course now to get immediate access to the videos and to get answers to every single question you ask in the course!

As an information technology professional myself, I realize what the final product of this course is capable of. I trust in creating this that you will use it for good and for learning. If you choose to use this keylogger for any illegal or immoral purposes, you risk losing a lot. This is only for educational purposes. The keylogger that you are going to see will be able to cause some serious damage, so please use it in a legal and responsible way.

Thank you very much for reading this and I hope to see you in the course soon! If you have any suggestions in regard to the functionalities of the keylogger, feel free to send me a message or post your requests here.

Who this course is for:

If you have already taken ethical hacking courses, this course will give you an advanced tool to continue learning with.
When you are trying to advance your learning with C++ using hands on tools and coding new programs, this course should be very helpful.

Build an Advanced Keylogger using C++ for Ethical Hacking!

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 18min

Setting up the development environment.2 lectures • 15min

How to hide the keylogger window and prevent it from popping1 lecture • 12min

Mapping physical keys to human friendly names2 lectures • 19min

Creating auxiliary general purpose functions3 lectures • 46min

Writing the code for custom Encryption3 lectures • 41min

Handling Input Output I/O2 lectures • 31min

Dealing with time intervals ( Timer header )4 lectures • 47min

Implementing the Send Mail option7 lectures • 1hr 39min

Setting up Hooks to capture pressed keys on the keyboard and mouse as well4 lectures • 52min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: