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How can I find out if someone had downloaded and is running a program to track what I'm doing online?

I'd really appreciate any bit of help with this, thanks

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

here is an online scanner i use for that purpose and other viruses www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php

then also programs like ad-aware are good too

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I'm not sure if that's what I'm looking for. My husband is the computer expert here...he told me about a program he'd run while with his first wife that not only monitored her internet activity but every keystroke she made. That's the type of thing I'm wondering about...

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

It could be some kind of software that is designed for tracking what kids are doing online or something for businesses to keep track of what employees are using the internet for.

I am not an expert...but,
You could check your temp internet files folder and your cookies and look for something unusual. You could also check your list of programs and see if anything new has turned up. If you are running XP I believe it will tell you how long the program has been there and the last time that it was used.

No offense, but that creeps me out.

If my husband did anything like that I'd be really pissed.

- Meow -

You need a program called "Hijack This".

It's a utility that scans your computer and reports EVERYTHING even remotely suspicious (including things you might actually want on there but it thinks are dodgy - Bearshare anyone? ) so you can then deal with it. It will seek out all running processes, and if it finds any that are likely to be tied to malware (e.g., dialers, browser hijackers that try tracking your browsing habits to target you with ads) then it lists them in all their gory detail.

The log reports that "Hijack This" generates take a little bit of time to decode, but once you've worked out what the assorted entries mean, you can stamp on all manner of unwanted nasties because it arms you with the information about their presence. It covers registry keys as well, including hidden startup keys that allow some of the nastier products to resurrect themselves after you've done a basic sweep of the system with something like Ad-Aware.

All in all, a fairly nice tool.

Oh yes, something you should be aware of is that some web pages are sneaky, and initiate "drive by downloads" behind your back without giving you ANY prompting. This is a classic means by which dialers are dropped onto a computer - hormonal teenager in the family goes surfing for pics of Britney Spears wearing very little, visits a site without ANY security awareness whatsoever, and this little beauty is downloaded onto the family computer ... Mom and Pop find out about 3 months later when they receive a phone bill for $100,000 because the dialer has redirected their dialup net connection to a premium rate number in Vanuatu that charges $10 per minute for connection. Trouble being that at the moment, there isn't actually a legal framework in place anywhere that stops frausdsters based in out of the way places from doing drive by downloads of such things onto people's computers. Laws only work if the frausdster commits the offence in the country in question - if you end up with a piece of fraudware that milks your bank account on your computer and it's originated from Kiribati or the Cayman Islands, then you are, to use an intricate lgal term, "stuffed".



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

run HijackThis, then post the log either here or show it to someone who knows their stuff and you trust. The log can be pretty incomprehensible to someone who doesnt know what they're looking for. At the very least, it can take a lot of effort to eliminate every legitimate process, especially on an older Windows install which will have accumulated lots of junk.

Keyloggers are very easy to write and conceal at a basic level - i've seen loads of different ones done in different ways. And I have seen ones so well concealed that you wouldn't pick them up on a HijackThis log - particularly a password stealer that faked a restart then spoofed the Windows logon, capturing the admin password as it was reentered.

If you are specifically concerned about your husband, it helps if you can recognise his programming style/use of names, etc. You can be messing about in the Windows folders and see something with a familiar name.

Mom and Pop find out about 3 months later when they receive a phone bill for $100,000 because the dialer has redirected their dialup net connection to a premium rate number in Vanuatu that charges $10 per minute for connection. Trouble being that at the moment, there isn't actually a legal framework in place anywhere that stops frausdsters based in out of the way places from doing drive by downloads of such things onto people's computers. Laws only work if the frausdster commits the offence in the country in question - if you end up with a piece of fraudware that milks your bank account on your computer and it's originated from Kiribati or the Cayman Islands, then you are, to use an intricate lgal term, "stuffed"

I know it's harsh, but I have no sympathy for people who get caught out like that. There are so many free security solutions to prevent that, for a start, BT will disable access to premium rate numbers if you ask them - not to mention all the legitimate computer-based solutions. At the very least, if you listen to the sound your modem makes sometimes, you can hear the difference in dialling!! And don't even get me started on people who get done because they don't realise their computer has not switched off. I know mine has lights, but really!

At least if you get defrauded in an online transaction, the bank will pay you back. The one time I got got, it was very satisfying when the FBI caught the bloke. Dumb***, thought nicking the card details of a lot of people in a small online community was a good plan

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

come to security forums they have a whole section dedicated to hijack this interpretation

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

ah programs like that are used on peoples home pcs to watch for cheating spouses, i know i had to put one to use a few years back. and yes alot of companys use them to, but its fore more of making sure they dont access   sites or anything illegal.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I recently had computer troubles from an ex that put an infected disk into my computer, giving me a few trojans and breaking a hole in my security to allow even more bad stuff. I signed up for http://forums.techguy.org/index.php (its free)and posted a hijackthis! log, they helped me out to keep the computer clean. Check it out, its a nice service.