What is it?
Spy software does not
necessarily mean someone is watching you.
The images that the words ‘spy software’ conjure up in
your minds probably involve malicious spyware, adware
and vicious Trojan downloaders. They are the latest
phenomenon in the world of viral hackers and they are a
worldwide plague spreading as quickly as it takes to log
onto the Internet. But there is another type of spy
software that you can use. It is an effective tool and
causes no damage to your PC. No need for system
restores, no need for firewalls, or reformatting your
hard disk.
'Spy Software' (or 'computer monitoring software') is a
commercial software package that resides silently on
your PC whilst tracking emails, Internet activity and
even the files used. It has numerous valuable uses for
your home computing use. It can be used to set your mind
at ease with regards to cheating spouses or it can be
used to monitor your child’s Internet activities. A lot
of search engines and internet sites claim to be child
proof but it only takes one click of a button on most
adult sites to ‘verify’ that you are of a legal age.
Benefits
Because of secure time
logging, it means that accurate and binding documents
and evidence can be stored. Perhaps you have a small or
home business and want to make sure that valuable
company time and resources (including man hours) aren’t
being wasted ineffectively surfing the Internet. Using
spy software you can do just that and much more.
Protect your privacy, stop cheating spouses or keep a
more effective eye on your children’s internet
activities. You can do all of this and much more with
spy software. You can protect yourself against computer
fraud and other criminal activities. If there is any
illegal activity on your PC, you will be armed with the
proof you need in order to take action. You will have
the complete ability to watch what is happening on your
PC even whilst you are not there.
Most spy software will give you numerous capabilities to
protect yourself and your business including the
capacity to email your log to any email address you
want. It will also act discretely so your family or
employees never need to know that you are watching there
every movement. Keep an eye on them and there PC
activity without them knowing.
Not Only for Spies
It does not necessarily
need to be used for spying. It can be employed to keep
track of the number of keystrokes made and updates to
files and folders. Everything can be stored with a
password, so only you can access your logs and your
folders as well as the software itself.
Perhaps you want to keep track of your own Internet
activity. Spy software will record your tracks and store
all the changes you make to your files. It will track
emails sent and received. Not only that, all the files
you store will be time stamped meaning that keeping
track of everything you or others do has never been
simpler.
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Introduction
Every year, an
increasing percentage of marriages are ending in
divorce and fewer relationships are even making it
as far as marriage because they break down before
this final step is reached. Alarmingly, one of the
biggest contributing factors to this is cheating
spouses and with the increased usage of the Internet
has come a massive increase in the number of
relationships breaking down through online affairs.
Internet chat rooms and adult content websites are
being introduced on average every 5 minutes of every
day. The temptation for potential cheating spouses
is increasing with every new site.
The facts
Of all the divorces in
the USA, approximately one third are now ending
because of online affairs. Online affairs are seen
as many as either being safe or simply not adultery.
In fact, almost half (47%) of men interviewed in a
recent study stated that they didn't think of online
affairs as being real adultery. Because they never
meet up with their cyber partners, the belief is
that nothing untoward has happened. However, the
intent is still there, and the new age of cyber
sexual relationships is far from being harmless or
victimless.
How to tell if your partner is a
cheating on you
The tell tale signs of
a cyber cheat are very similar to those of a
'normal' cheating spouse. Their attitude towards you
and family and friends will undoubtedly change.
However, there are other signs that suggest your
partner is specifically cheating over the Internet.
If there Internet usage has increased dramatically
and they become very secretive or evasive over what
they are actually doing, then you have every right
to be suspicious and you should consider trying to
find out exactly what they are doing.
If you can keep your PC in a public place in the
house, then you will be able to get a very good idea
of whether they are cheating on you. A cyber cheat
would much prefer to have their PC in a secluded
room so they can be alone.
If you suspect your partner,
there are steps you can take to find out for sure.
You may not want to
jump straight in and accuse them of cheating on you,
in case you are wrong so you should take some
preliminary steps before confronting your partner.
Talk to them about their views on cybersex and the
time they spend on the Internet. Find out what it is
they do while they are online. Try to catch them in
the act, walk up to them and ask if you can use the
Internet for something. Check their email accounts
when they're not around.
Unfortunately, sometimes, more drastic measures are
called for and one of the most effective measures is
using monitoring software. This software will track
all the websites they visit and emails they send and
will store them for you to look at, at your
discretion.
The bottom line
The adult industry is
a multi billion-dollar industry and nearly 300 new
adult sites, including adult chat rooms and web cam
sites, are being added every single day. If your
partner is liable to become a cheating spouse there
is a very good chance that they will try their luck
over the Internet.
You need to protect yourself from the heartache, or
at least find out for sure and without interrogating
your partner directly, monitoring software is a
highly effective way of doing this. |
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Introduction
The Internet is an
incredible and vast resource of knowledge and
information. It enriches our lives by bringing us
resources we could never have dreamed of having
before. Most of us would not know what to do without
it anymore, more of us are taking freelance or
telecommuting jobs because of the broadly accepted
World Wide Web. However, there is a dark, seedy side
to it as there is with just about everything in
life.
The majority of people can sort the bad from the
good, but for children it is sometimes difficult to
do the same. There are a number of online dangers
for kids.
Common Dangers
Children are much more
susceptible to the power of suggestion, and quite
often website content does not even need to be
particularly suggestive. There is a multitude of
sites offering adult or inappropriate content. There
are sites that advocate drinking, taking drugs and
smoking.
There are even sites that describe how to make bombs
out of household items. To some children, the
thought of making a bomb is more fun than it is
dangerous. Apart from this, there are the obvious
and very well documented dangers of online
paedophiles that try to trick our children into
meeting them face-to-face without the protection of
their parents or anyone else.
The statistics
The number of children
that were abducted through Internet contact last
year alone is 705. That is nearly two kids a day. It
is estimated that 1 in 5 children are sexually
solicited while using the Internet and 80% receive
highly inappropriate emails never mind the very
dubious content of some popups. Only 33% of PCs have
decent and effective filtering software installed
but over a staggering 80% of households have the
Internet.
What can you do to help protect
your children?
You should get some
sort of filtering software installed, remember it
only takes a click of a button for a child to lie to
about his or her age. If you can encourage your
children to share, their activities with you will be
able to keep an eye on them. Make sure they know not
to reveal any personal information over the internet
or anywhere, for that matter. Teaching them how to
treat others will make them think about the way
other people treat them and will discourage
unfriendly behaviour while they are online. Probably
the most important factor of all is to make sure
they know to never, ever agree to meet anyone in
person.
The bottom line
The Internet is a
wonderful resource for personal and business use but
there is a bad side to it. Our children have access
to adult and inappropriate content that may
encourage them to do all sorts of things but there
are general guidelines, which will improve our
children's surfing activities, and these should be
taught to our children as soon as they start to use
the Internet.
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Introduction
Businesses have benefited
greatly from the advent of the Internet. Increased
communication and document transfer being two very
important factors. More things are done on the internet
and they are done a lot quicker. There is a whole world
full of information merely a couple of clicks away. It
is not all positive though. The Internet can be used to
everyone's advantage in many ways but, conversely, it
can be used against both as individuals and as
companies.
Recreational web surfing is becoming a growing habit
with employees who feel it is their right to spend time
surfing the internet, contacting friends and colleagues,
reading the news and looking at the weather. The reduced
productivity caused by this can be crippling to some
smaller companies.
Recreational web surfing
Employees are supposed to
work. That is how businesses are productive and how jobs
are done. This is the same whether in an office, a field
or a cave. Where private telephone calls used to exist,
recreational web surfing has taken over. Employees are
spending more and more working time surfing the internet
for personal pleasure. This means they are no longer
doing the work required of them.
In 1996, Compaq had to fire 20 employees when they
discovered that each of the employees had visited adult
websites over a thousand times each. Similarly, in 2000
the New York Times fired 23 employees for forwarding
inappropriate emails.
Lack of productivity is not the only problem that the
Internet and misuse of has caused. Joke emails are used
to carry viruses. They are quickly and easily spread
through home computers and work computers alike. They
have also led to discrimination and even harassment
lawsuits because of their content.
Monitoring employee's use of the
Internet
Many companies have
started to invest in monitoring software that will
observe their employee's every move both on and off the
Internet. By utilising this kind of software, a company
can either stop employees from visiting sites or they
can use it to track down people who abuse the privilege
of the internet and punish them and whilst many
employees claim this to be an infringement of their
rights. It is the most effective way of stamping out a
phenomenon, which was estimated to have cost worldwide
businesses in excess of 5.3 billion dollars in 1999.
Most people's work contracts now have a clause written
into them about the use of internet and email for
personal use, which fully entitles the company to use
monitoring software. Every company should be invoking
this clause if in fear.
The bottom line
With companies, losing
over 5 billion dollars in one year in 1999 and high
profile companies like the New York Times and Compaq
laying people off, it is obvious that this has become a
huge problem. Lawsuits, loss of productivity and
inappropriate behaviour, without even mentioning the
dangers of Trojans, downloaders, spyware, adware and
online scams are all side effects of recreational
Internet use and it has to be stopped.
The most effective way of stopping or at least closely
monitoring employee's Internet usage is through
monitoring software. |
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