Pros & Cons
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- Stealthy logging and real-time monitoring of Web, IM, and e-mail.
- Can monitor from any location.
- Can remotely configure, shut down, or disable Internet on monitored system.
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- IM monitoring fails if third-party or Web-based IM client is used.
- Vista support needed last-minute fixes.
Ever wonder what your kids do on the computer when you're at work? Or what they do in the middle of the night when they're supposed to be asleep? Wonder no more—Solid Oak Software's SnoopStick will log their activities, monitor them in real time, and even cut off their Internet access or shut down the computer remotely. If you're comfortable snooping on your kids, SnoopStick makes it possible.
Now, from the office or the other side of the world, just insert that same SnoopStick in any Internet-capable computer's USB port and choose "Connect and View Remote Activity." As soon as you select which computer to monitor, SnoopStick will start displaying realtime activity in four categories. Web Access notes all Web sites accessed, along the program that made the connection. IM Conversations reports both sides of conversations taking place via AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, or MSN. Email Activity gives you a list of e-mail sent and received—not the content or even the subject, just the senders and recipients. And Other Messages lists events such as launching or stopping a program.
You can also download and view the activity logs that the remote copy of SnoopStick recorded while you weren't monitoring, or during any specified time period—the information is presented in the same four categories. At any time you can click the camera icon to snap a screenshot of the monitored system's desktop. SnoopStick also takes screenshots on its own when the user spends a little time (about 5 seconds) at any Web page. A magnifying-glass icon in the Web Access list signifies an available screenshot.
If you're willing to tip your hand and reveal that the system is being monitored, you can send a message that will pop up on the monitored system's screen, like "Hey, get off MySpace—you're supposed to be doing homework!" You can also remotely cut off Internet access, log off all users, or shut down the computer. There's no revealing message when you cut off the Internet—it just looks like a network problem.
There is a modicum of traditional parental control built in, though it's nothing like the full-scale protection found in Safe Eyes, Content Protect, or Webroot Child Safe. You can remotely configure the monitored system to allow or deny Internet access according to a weekly schedule, in one-hour increments. Again, if access is denied, the users just get a browser error message. There's a separate time-duration option you can use instead of the time schedule, but it's strangely hands-on—you enable Internet access starting at the present time for anywhere from 1 minute to 3 hours. You can even configure it to block all Internet access unless the SnoopStick is plugged in (though this would surely blow your cover!). And you can block access to over a dozen social-networking sites or to any individual sites you care to specify.
Windows gets hinky if certain of its processes can't access the Internet, and SnoopStick would get into a bind if it blocked its own access. The Program Control tab of advanced options lists programs such as svchost.exe that are exempted when SnoopStick blocks Internet access. There's also a list of programs to be killed the instant they attempt Internet access—perhaps the kids just don't listen when you tell them not to play those network games. Most of the other advanced options aren't for the average user; you'll generally see them only if tech support asks you to make specific changes.
Hidden away from the remote configuration options you'll find a feature called "Alert Words/URLs" on the activity viewer's Tools menu. If you're actively watching for evidence that your kids are communicating certain information or going to certain sites, you can add triggers to this page. Now if Grade-School Gary goes to playboy.com or if Teenage Tina blabs your home phone number, you'll get an audible and visible alert. —
When Software Attacks
I checked with Solid Oak Software President Brian Milburn, and he knew exactly what had happened. NIS 2007 doesn't merely block SnoopStick's monitoring—it actually deletes essential files from the device itself, rendering it nonfunctional. Fortunately, there's an update utility that you can use to repair the device, after telling NIS 2007 to keep its hands off. But this does illustrate a real problem with monitoring software. If somebody else snuck in and installed a snooper on your computer, you'd want your security program to stop it! And conversely, clever kids could sic your security software on SnoopStick—be sure to password-protect those security settings.
A memo about SnoopStick, purportedly from the Department of Defense, is also making the rounds. It attributes six dangerous behaviors to SnoopStick, but only one is accurate. It does not disable security software, include keylogger capabilities, set up a backdoor for hackers, deliberately crash the computer, or act as a worm to infect USB drives. Yes, SnoopStick does monitor Web usage, IM, and e-mail—that's what it's for. This sort of unfounded rumor doesn't do a product's reputation any good, surely. —
Peeking, Prying, and Wiretapping
It was spooky the way SnoopStick recorded all Internet access by every program, from Windows components to Symantec LiveUpdate to browsers. The Web Access list color-codes its lines—blue for Internet Explorer, orange for Firefox, and red when a URL from the "alerts" list shows up. As promised, it snapped screenshots when the browser stayed on a particular page for a short while (indicating that the user had some interest in the page). If Little Timmy runs across a porn site by accident and quickly surfs away, that's okay. But if he stops to ogle the pictures . . . busted!
E-mail monitoring works specifically for POP3/SMTP or IMAP mail—it doesn't capture Web-based e-mail. Here again it was effective, recording every message sent and received on the monitored system, spam and all. Only the sender and recipient data gets saved, though—not the message content and not even the subject lines. This feature might reveal that your daughter has been e-mailing That Boy after being forbidden all contact, but it won't show you what she's saying to him. The fact that Web-based e-mail isn't monitored renders this a much less useful service, however, as most reasonably savvy kids will keep their forbidden e-mails off the POP3/SMTP type accounts you're likely to know about. Still, if your daughter is routinely visiting mail.google.com, you'll learn that. And if she's typing out long, impassioned letters to her inappropriate boyfriend, you're bound to get a screen shot of one.
Even after the Vista quirks were resolved, I still found a few problems with IM monitoring. SnoopStick monitors conversations that take place using standard client software for AIM, Yahoo! Instant Messenger, or MSN Live. It watches only these clients. It won't capture conversations transmitted using a third-party client such as Trillian,
When all the conditions were right, with both ends of the conversation using standard IM clients, SnoopStick acted like an IM wiretap. Every line of IM conversation showed up in its live monitor in real time. For those parents without IM experience, SnoopStick offers a tooltip that translates standard abbreviations, with mixed success. I don't really need it to translate every instance of "a" to "away from keyboard"! And I didn't get any translation tooltips when viewing a saved log.
If you're lucky, the kids won't even realize they're being spied on. But if they do and they try to remove the SnoopStick software, they're not likely to succeed. Even knowing the names of the processes and services used by SnoopStick, I couldn't terminate or remove it. The only way they're likely to succeed is if they can enlist help from whatever security software you have installed.
Is snooping on your kids ethical? How about if you use the product to snoop on your spouse, your employees, or your competition? Clearly, that's a decision you'll have to make for yourself. But if you think it through and decide to go ahead, SnoopStick will do the job.
More Parental Control Software:
Final Thoughts
SnoopStick
You can use the SnoopStick from any computer to monitor your children's Internet use, IM conversations, and e-mail correspondence. It includes a modicum of parental control (time-scheduling, blocked sites) and lets you shut down your kids' system remotely. If you're okay with snooping on your kids, SnoopStick will do the job.