Spector Pro | Mac 2009 – Activity monitoring and
recording surveillance
Reviewed by Robert L Pritchett
Introduction
"SpectorSoft Corporation today
{March 31, 2009} released Spector Pro mac 2009, the most powerful and easy to
use monitoring program for Macs available in the marketplace today. Spector Pro
mac 2009 is the software of choice for parents concerned about protecting their
children from the dangers of the Internet. Spector Pro mac 2009 is also
appropriate for employers concerned about maximizing productivity and
minimizing liability in the workplace by keeping track of everything employees
do on a Mac.
Vero Beach, FL - SpectorSoft
Corporation, the worldwide leader in Internet Monitoring and Surveillance
Software, has released Spector Pro mac 2009, the most powerful and easy to use
monitoring program for Macs available in the marketplace today.
Just as SpectorSoft's award-winning
Windows platform monitoring products - Spector Pro, Spector CNE Investigator,
and Spector 360 - lead the field when it comes to PC and Internet activity
monitoring, Spector Pro mac 2009 is the software of choice for parents concerned
about protecting their children from the dangers of the Internet. Spector Pro
mac 2009 is also appropriate for employers concerned about maximizing
productivity and minimizing liability in the workplace by keeping track of
everything employees do on a Mac.
"The release of Spector Pro
mac 2009 is a landmark event in the world of Mac monitoring software,"
said SpectorSoft President C. Douglas Fowler. "The appearance of the word
'Pro' in the product name indicates the power of this program, as well as its
ease of use.
"We at SpectorSoft take great
pride in the industry awards and accolades our Spector Pro for Windows program
has received over the years, so after the considerable time and effort spent
developing this new Mac monitoring program, I am pleased to say its features
and benefits deserve the 'Pro' distinction."
Spector Pro mac 2009 goes beyond
the original Spector for Mac's unrivaled ability to take screen snapshots of
everything a user does at the Mac and on the Internet because the new program
includes many of the powerful features of the award-winning Spector Pro for
Windows, including:
* Web Sites Visited - See full
details of every web site visited, plus actual web site addresses.
* Chat and Instant Message Activity
- Record and review conversations on all the major chat clients: iChat, AIM,
MSN, Yahoo, and Adium.
* Email Activity - Get a copy of
every email sent or received with common email programs like Apple Mail,
Microsoft Entourage, Mozilla Thunderbird, and other POP/SMTP email clients.
* User Activity - See if and when
they are actively using the computer with the User Activity chart.
* Remote Viewer - Review recordings
from another computer, PC or Mac, in your home or office without having to
return to the computer you are monitoring.
More than 50,000 companies and more
than 400,000 consumers have purchased SpectorSoft solutions to crack down on
Internet abuse in their business or home, and SpectorSoft has made the
prestigious Inc. Magazine List of Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S.
four times in the past five years. SpectorSoft monitoring technology is a
Three-Time winner of the prestigious PC Magazine Editors' Choice Award."
http://www.spectorsoft.com/products/Spector_Macintosh/tour.asp
What I Learned
Back in 2003, we called this "Supersnooper
Software". That hasn't changed. Back then we said the app didn't affect
system performance. This time, it does. There is nothing it does not track.
Today, the Internet is a much more treacherous place to be.
Face it, we live in a litigious society. If you are a business, how do you
protect yourself? If you have kids and/or spouse at home, how do you protect
them and yourself from the bad-nasties?
Every keystroke, Chat message (both sides), Email, website
(including MySpace and Facebook, searches, every program run, you name it and
it tracks and logs it. You can even run everything done on the box as a movie,
so you can imagine the hard drive space and resources this takes up.
I was able to immediately see the performance hit on my
MacBook Pro with this installed. And it wasn't because I also had Norton
Security installed on the same machine (installed a little later).
I did download it from the site first and it really did
begin recording immediately after I entered the serial number.
This time, the app does snapshots, so the activity is
recorded, not every second that the machine is on – unless you really
need that level of detail. Yes, it really does act like a VCR. It does use
compression so the hard drive hit isn’t as onerous. And yes, the monitoring can
be turned off and on and can do recording in either black and white or color.
And yes, the snapshots can be exported to BMP, JPEG or AVI.
Besides being a snooper, it can also be a blocker for
certain Chats and Instant Messaging. Both sides of conversations are captured
as well.
Yes, it really does capture keystrokes – including
passwords.
And yes, websites can be individually blocked.
And reports can be generated so you don't have to do all the
heavy-sifting. These are done in "Top 10" fashion and allow for
instant blocking if things are amiss.
If Email is deleted, it can be recovered.
If there are certain words that need to be tracked, there is
a keyword detector too.
It also records who the users are and when they logged in
and out.
If files are transferred to other media, it records those
transactions as well. Yes, thumbdrives, etc. and records of a documents are also
recorded.
And there are really 3 modes – stealth, hotkey and
password. Stealth may be the most used version. Just be aware, there is a
noticeable performance hit when this is in use.
So now, if you really want to be a network Nazi, you can be.
And this also works for non-Mac systems as well.
If that isn't all the big-brother stuff you want in order to
command and control SpectorSoft also has another app called eBlaster, that
permits remote monitoring.
It not only is easy to turn off, but it is also easy to
uninstall. Be aware, If the app is on more than one machine with the same
serial number, the app will disable itself.
Conclusions
If employees and children or spouses cannot be trusted, this
is the app that can be used to track activities. It is your business or your
family. This tool is about the best there is for legally defending your turf.
Can this tool be abused? Yes, but if you have employees that are abusing your
time instead of using it to earn a living, then you have every right to protect
yourself. After all, if they are doing illegal things while being paid by you,
who ultimately ends up in court?
If they know their activities are being monitored, they may
think twice about doing certain things on your dime. And this really is cheap business
insurance, considering the litigation situation today. Think RIAA, MPAA and the
Internet thought police. Think Peer-to-Peer and illicit downloads.
For families, don't let this be your principle babysitter.
Train them to govern their own activities and not be tempted to break family
commandments and laws. Joseph Smith Jr, once said when asked how he governed
the once great City of Nauvoo so well and his response was; "We teach them
correct principles and they govern themselves." In this case, how do you
protect your family from others who would compromise your kids or spouse? Keep the online sharks and wolves at
bay. This watchdog app does the job nicely.
By the way, this app is supported 24/7 and that kind of
support is free for the first year.
Of all the monitoring apps out there, this one really
shines.