Are Virtual keyboards really effective?
The answer is a big NO for the following reasons. With the Keyboard visible on the screen its virtually visible to any one standing behind the user, moreover since the user needs to use his mouse and click on the desired key, the movement is much slower compared to when you type on a real keyboard. Therefore it is easier for any one standing behind or in the vicinity to know what the user is typing. Virtual keyboards are effective with spyware that track and record key pressed, but there are many other softwares that can do much more. For example a simple update to a keystroke making it both a keystroke and a click stroke (mouse click) would make the virtual keyboards in-effective. There are spyware that can grab a screen shot of your computer screen on different activities, like a particular key press or every mouse click. Many banks in India need to use devices like the one used by HSBC. These devices generate random numbers every 45 seconds and you need to enter those with your user
