UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

A keylogger is designed to monitor and record keystrokes on a keyboard without the user's knowledge. The captured information is often sent to attackers who may misuse passwords, credit card numbers or personal messages. Such tools pose a serious risk to privacy and security, especially on shared or public computers. Hence, the malicious program described is a keylogger.

Option A:
Option A, worm, is a self replicating program that spreads across networks but does not necessarily log keystrokes. Its primary behaviour is to propagate, not to capture user input.

Option B:
Option B, Trojan horse, disguises itself as legitimate software but typically opens a backdoor or performs other hidden actions rather than exclusively recording keystrokes.

Option C:
Option C is correct because keyloggers are explicitly defined as programs that log and store keystrokes, which is exactly what the stem describes. They are often categorised as a form of spyware.

Option D:
Option D, antivirus, is defensive software used to detect and remove malware and is not itself a malicious program.