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Who's Watching Me - Overview
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Summary: Who's Watching
Me scans your computer for the kinds of spyware that would be used
by someone to spy on what a user is doing on his or her computer.
In other words, Who's Watching Me scans for programs that might
be used by a spouse, an ex-lover, a roommate, a coworker, an employee
or an employer to watch you on your computer. It does not scan for
advertising-based systems (adware, also referred to as spyware)
that are sometimes included in free downloads (e.g., Gozilla).
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Spyware, Snoopers,
Keyloggers, Activity Monitors
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| The terms spyware, snooper, keylogger, keystroke recorder, and activity monitor are all used to describe the spying programs that Who's Watching Me ("WWM") scans for. However, spyware is also used to describe a different type of program as well ("adware"), discussed below. Some prime examples of the kinds of programs WWM scans for: (a) a wife buys a program to spy on her husband's computer use, (b) an ex-boyfriend uses a program to spy on his ex-girlfriend to see who she is emailing, (c) a nosey coworker downloads a program to monitor what his colleague is typing when he is using his Instant Messenger. WWM scans your computer for programs that would be used in situations like these. From this point forward, we'll use the term "snooper" to describe the kinds of programs that WWM scans for. For a long list of snoopers, please see our spyware - snooper page. |
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A very popular program used to monitor computer
activity is the Investigator program from WinWhatWhere
Corporation. Below is a sample screenshot from Investigator's
setup screen. This snooper's setup window allows a user to configure
the snooper to perform the spying activity desired.
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| The typical snooper logs all keystrokes, takes snapshots of what is on the computer screen and logs the names of all the programs used. The keystrokes, screenshots and program use are all usually recorded in a log file. This log file can then be viewed at leisure by the person who installed the snooper. |
| Unfortunately the term "spyware" is also used to describe advertising-based systems (adware, also referred to as spyware) that are sometimes included in free downloads. Typically this adware flavor of spyware transmits some data via the Internet back to advertisers in exchange for more advertising. Because of the confusion caused by using spyware to describe both snoopers and adware, from this point forward we'll use the term adware to describe the advertising-based spyware. |
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Adware is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several companies (e.g., Web3000, EverAd, Aureate) that offer to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, a user doesn't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. Adware usually reports your Internet surfing habits back home for data collection purposes. |
| WWM does not scan for Adware. |
| Who's Watching Me |
| Who's Watching Me ("WWM") scans a user's computer system for snoopers, sometimes referred to as spyware, keyloggers, keystroke recorders and/or activity monitors (see above). WWM scans the computer that it is executed on. |
| WWM is extremely simple to use. First, a user needs to download the trial version from Trapware. Go to the download page to download the trial version. Second, run the program you downloaded to install the trial version of WWM. Third, run the newly installed WWM and press the Start button. |
| Trapware gives users a free 90-day trial version to try out WWM before they buy it. The trial version has two limitations: (1) it does not allow a user to update the snooper-detecting capabilities, and (2) it does not load all of the snooper definitions. Other than that, the trial operates just like the registered version and gives users an excellent opportunity to try before they buy. |
| The screenshot below shows the WWM user interface as it is scanning a computer system for snoopers. |
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| WWM also includes an updating feature that allows a user to retrieve the latest updates through a click of the mouse. This allows WWM users to always ensure they have the latest protection available from Trapware. |
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Scan for Spyware |
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