Index

30Nov2003: Happy Thanksgiving; Big Brother Has Arrived

Have you read George Orwell's "1984"? In this classic work, he explores the implications of a government which has the ability to watch each and every citizen and 'correct' them in real time. There is no way to break this to you gently - you are already being watched.

Recently a friend of mine had computer lockup problems. When it was taken to the repair shop, the service discovered that there were 169 keystroke capture programs in the computer. Every message, every password, every program entry was reported to 169 different sites. How many of these were commercial? How many government? How many just nosy people? We will never know.

If the government wants to spy on you, it's a trivial effort to infect your Windows system, somewhat harder to to infect other systems, but the net result is the same. Your keystrokes are theirs for analysis. Privacy? It's not written into the Constitution as an explicit right, though it is implicit in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

Most commercial businesses currently consider the concept of privacy obsolete. Trusting employees is out the window - watch everything they do just in case they might be doing something that business considers objectionable. Will they give you a list of things to avoid in advance? Maybe. Will it be current and complete? Not a chance.

Now that I've had a few days to consider it, the following email worries me even more than first impressions. This is a straight copy - no changes have been made.

Just released- Spector CNE (Corporate Network Ed.)
From: "kaseysellati@spectorsoft.com" 
To: "infield a.t yelmtel.com" 

Hi Byte.com:

Spectorsoft Corporation just announced that it has begun shipment of Spector
Corporate Network Edition (Spector CNE).

Spector CNE combines Spector Pro monitoring software, with corporate network
installation, configuration and deployment capabilities.

The result provides businesses with the most advanced monitoring software
suite ever offered.  Now, at the touch of a button, Spector CNE can be remotely
configured and installed FROM any computer on the network TO any computer
on the network, and the recordings can be viewed from any PC on the network.

With Spector CNE, you will have a complete record of your employees' PC and
Internet activity.

Spector CNE automatically captures and lets you review your employees':
emails sent and received, chat conversations and instant messages, files
downloaded, web sites visited, applications launched and keystrokes typed.
In addition, by taking screen snapshots, Spector CNE creates the equivalent
of a digital surveillance tape so that you can see the exact sequence of
everything your employees are doing on the computer.

Immediate email alerts notify you whenever certain words (and phrases)
you specify are typed by the user or are contained in an email, chat,
instant message or a web site.  (Spector CNE's email recording is so
comprehensive that it covers Outlook, Exchange, AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo
and any SMTP/POP3-based architecture.)

The primary uses for Spector CNE are to:

Conduct Investigations on Employees Suspected of Inappropriate Activity
Increase Employee Productivity by Reducing Frivolous and Inappropriate Activity
Monitor Ongoing Employee Performance and PC Proficiency
Eliminate Leaking of Confidential Information
Assist Help Desk Staff with PC Recovery
Enforce PC and Internet Acceptable Use Policies

"Our business customers have used Spector Pro because of its ability to
provide exact visual detail of an employee's internet and PC activity.
But, their biggest request has been for us to incorporate centralized
management capabilities into the product.  Spector CNE addresses that
need head on, and adds other important features like the monitoring of
downloaded files, detailed application activity and detailed URL activity.

And with the addition of an advanced search tool for quickly searching
emails, instant messages, web sites visited and keystrokes typed, we have
truly corporatized this product so that any business with employees on the
Internet will be able to know quickly and easily everything those employees
are doing on company computers" according to Doug Fowler, Spectorsoft president.

Spector CNE is available for instant download at www.SpectorCNE.com or
by calling toll-free (888) 598-2788. Pricing for Spector CNE begins with
a 10 user license priced at $495.

For further information, an evaluation copy, or an interview, please contact:

Kasey Sellati
Manager, Public Relations
www.SpectorCNE.com

KaseySellati@spectorsoft.com
(919) 465-2651

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