| Anybody watching? Maybe so 03/29/2001 By Doug Bedell / The Dallas Morning News
In the computerized workplace and at home, there is no rest for the paranoid. Today, all sorts of nosey tools have been developed to catch people doing the wrong thing on the Web. Parents can track the Internet activity of kids, bosses can monitor slackers, and jealous spouses can uncover what their mates are really doing all those late nights in the home office. This computer arms race is forever escalating. More than 100 snoopware programs are on the market. And now there are just as many programs designed to thwart computer spies.
Cover your tracks For computers with multiple users, a simple look at a Web browser's history file can tell snoopers a lot about your habits. If the browser is Netscape or an older model of Internet Explorer, Cover Your Tracks version 1.6 can obliterate evidence of your activity. This tiny program can be set to automatically clean out the browser's records of sites visited. It will even insert dummy addresses into the history folder to further fool prying eyes.
SpyCop At work, your employer can remotely monitor every keystroke you make in the privacy of your cubicle. SpyCop helps suspicious users detect installation of some of the more popular snoopware programs such as Spector, Boss Everywhere and I-See-U. With a click of the mouse, SpyCop will scan your PC for evidence of those programs. When that's done, SpyCop cleans up all traces of its presence and vanishes. This privacy protection comes with some glitches. It must be constantly updated to keep pace with new programs hitting the market. And, in our tests of the demo version, the program failed to detect a common Trojan used by administrators to steal looks at users' desktops on the sly.
KeySpy On the other side of the snooper-snoopee battle, KeySpy is among a number of new shareware programs that records everything typed into a monitor. Detailed records of the activity can be delivered by encrypted e-mail or stored on the hard drive in secret directories. The creators of KeySpy (free in demo mode; $25 to $45 for registered copies) stress their tool is designed for adults to monitor dependent children. However, there is nothing – save decency and trust – that prevents suspicious spouses from using KeySpy on their mates. Users should be aware that evidence gathered with such programs may not be admissible in court and could run afoul of state privacy statutes. To keep youngsters in line, KeySpy can even be set to remind them not to break house rules. At regular intervals, the message "I'm watching you!" will appear on the screen. If that doesn't chill illicit Web activity, nothing will. |