Are You Being Watched?

People are concerned about online privacy primarily because Web sites can systematically gather information about visitors and combine that information with databases on customer behavior from other sites. But there's another side to privacy that doesn't get much attention.

The monitoring tools we evaluate in our cover story, "Look Out!", are designed to monitor specific people, systems, or locations. Some of these tools can log every keystroke typed on a machine. Some of them capture not only screen images but also—in combination with a Webcam—photos of whoever is working at a computer and send the evidence to another computer via e-mail.

WinWhatWhere Investigator 4 is the best-known of these tools, but it has a number of competitors. Event monitors such as Blue Lance's LT Auditor+, Version 8, and SilentRunner 3.0 look for specific events on your network, such as when someone changes network rights or views files. SilentRunner can even search through files and e-mail messages. Of course, Webcams can be turned into nanny cams when joined with the proper software.

There are plenty of good reasons for using these tools in both businesses and homes. Given our heightened state of security, companies need more than ever a better grasp of the information leaving their offices. If you need to monitor something or someone, take a look at the tools we review in this story. And if you're concerned that someone is electronically looking over your shoulder, check out our sidebar "Antisurveillance Tips & Tricks".

I understand that businesses and individuals need monitoring programs to protect their security, but in terms of privacy, I'm more worried about Trojan horses that infiltrate programs and spy on people indiscriminately. Bill Machrone addresses this problem in his column, ExtremeTech. To learn more about security and privacy applications, visit

Monitoring programs are continually getting more sophisticated and better at hiding themselves. So even knowing whether you're being monitored is difficult. If you suspect someone is watching you, it may be more than paranoia.