[rick99]

I read through the recent "keylogger" post and wasn't sure whether to add to the prior forum or start a new one. But my question is slightly different, so I'm starting new one. Is anyone familiar with software for pc / internet activity monitoring, called Family Cyber Alert? It is legitimate commercial software - I guess a keylogger plus other logging capabilties that a friend recommended to me and I've since gotten it and it seems very cool, ez to use. I am starting to use it and find it very helpful for keeping an eye on my kids’ online activities, to be sure they're sticking to house PC use rules and limits, and to alert me for things they might be getting into that might concern me, or that I might need to learn more about, talk with them about. But recently someone else cautioned me on using something that records everything on our pc, as making me more vulnerable to external spyware that could hack into my personal info. With the security software and router/firewall I have, I don't think this is really an issue (or I should say a bigger issue due to having Family Cyber Alert), but wanted to see what anyone else knows. Thx.

[Car54]

Family Cyber looks to have some good reviews http://download.cnet...4-10446329.html
The difference with a malicious keylogger is that it is installed w/o your permission or knowing. In your case you are using an known good software that you installed to monitor PC use, I personally don't see how it could be an issue, especially since your on top of your security software.
Kudos to you for your concern for your kids PC/Online activities

On my PC I have a PC monitoring software called Covenant Eyes, it does pretty much the same thing as yours, but it is a paid service as the outbound internet is monitored through their servers, the filtering settings, accountability partners, etc are done on their web site.

This post has been edited by Car54: 03 November 2010 - 01:47 PM

[coastie65]

Hi. I haven't heard of it, but you did what we recommend and that is to read the reviews on a product. Households with kids, probably should have something like that installed, as well as use the Content thing in Internet options. I am afraid that in the other thread, the poster wanted to use it for less than legal purposes and thus my warning at the time.

[SpiritWind]

Hi Rick :

Having never heard of "Family Cyber Alert", when it
comes to "Parental Control" software, I did a 25
page Google "Search" on this product , I saw many
dubious Sites offering this product, and IF you did
NOT download it from http://www.itcompany.com , I
DEFINITELY Recommend you get it off your computer
as soon as possible . During my 25 page "Search", I
saw 2 legitimate security companies ( Sunbelt
Software & Emsisoft Software ) issue "Alert(s)"
about this, though the former was last updated in
2008 ; the Emsisoft One MAY have been recent !?

I am of the security Opinion that having a Keylogger,
commercial or otherwise, is a double-edge sword ; you
never know when and/or IF "it" will turn on you .

When it comes to parental control software, I have
seen reliable Sources recommend either "Safe Eyes",
"Net Nanny" and the apparently FREE "K9 Web
Protection" .

What "security software" do you have ? And have you
run their "Full Scan" to see what they have to say ?

And the Best AntiKeylogger-oriented program is Zemana,
which has a FREE 15-day "Trial" available at
http://www.zemana.co...eroverview.aspx .
I be very curious as to HOW they "evaluate" the
"Family Cyber Alert" !?

[Car54]

Rick, having done a little more research, you really may want to (should) uninstall it. I will get back to you in a bit with what I've found out.

This post has been edited by Car54: 04 November 2010 - 05:05 AM

[Car54]

After seeing Coastie and Spirits post, I thought I better get my rear in gear and did a little more research than my quick trip to CNET Downloads.

Here is what I found, in having downloaded the file and scanning it with Avast and SpySweeper (the non AV version) I found nothing. I submitted it to Virus Total and it came out totally clean. http://www.virustota...898c-1282788019

Yet, having searched for the company, and then trying to open SpiritWinds link to the company, I received this warning from SpySweeper:



Yet still trying to find the company, it was a dead link, even from CNET Download, it is a dead link. I don't know if they folded, or are somewhere else...that also concerns me.

Back at CNET, I searched more of the company's products, and at least one was flagged spyware by some users by their AVG as spyware, Spy Remover 3.04 http://download.cnet....html?tag=mncol and thus maybe S.S. alert due to the previous history of this company?

With all that, I would say uninstall it and go with one of SpiritWinds recommendations, or Covenant Eyes which has a free 30 day trial and free phone support 6 days a week.

We would have loved to have done this research before you installed it, but at least you thought to check on it. As always, we need to be careful of what and where we download from

This post has been edited by Car54: 04 November 2010 - 09:58 AM

[rick99]

Well thanks for all the efforts and feedback on this point. I actually wasn't really concerned about the legitimacy of this software or the company - I felt I did enough homework upfront on that, so I was surprised by concerns raised there. My question was more regarding whether this type of program in general, legitimate as it may be, in some way compromised my identity security because it was recording everything (but recording it on my own PC).

Nevertheless, I went back and checked around some more as a result of the concerns that were raised. The company website, where I got the program - www.itcompany.com - is perfectly accessible, in business, and I believe legitimate...so I'm not sure why anyone else had a problem with that. Also, my understanding is that just because an anti-spyware or other security program flags a site doesn't mean it is truly a threat; there are other factors that can trigger such a flag...not an uncommon thing. I hear about different security programs causing conflict with each other all the time. It looks like SpyRemover is another anti-spyware program.

I spoke yesterday with the friend that originally recommended this software to begin with, someone who is more PC technically saavy than I, and learned that he has also used and had good experiences with other software from this company, including an anti-spyware program.

But all that aside, I'm glad the points were raised all the same. Can't be too careful. Doesn't hurt to double check these things.

[Car54]

Rick, thank you for your feedback. It sounds like you did some very thoughtful research..kudos.

Whenever the word "keylogger" is brought up, it can raise a host of concerns. The fact of the pop up from SpySweeper and the file coming out clean seemed to contradict each other, or cause questions, so thus to error on the safe side of making a change to another more well known software was brought up. I do agree with you on the False Positive front, as both the spyware alerts for the Spyware Remover were both from AVG users, point taken

As far as having keylogger software on a PC, I have no problem with that as far as using a known valid software program, which in your case is no longer a concern. I would just make sure you have a good Firewall and AV. The Firewall will alert you of an "unknown" outbound connection trying to access the internet.

Again, thank you for keeping in touch with us in your thread

This post has been edited by Car54: 07 November 2010 - 09:56 AM

[SpiritWind]

Hi Rick :

As a followup to my original Post, I will mention I
clicked the "Contact Us" link on the itcompany.com
Site and what I read there greatly concerns me .
Allegedly they are located in a 1-square mile
residental town ( Sewickley, PA ) 12 miles west of
Pittsburgh with a mail drop 20+ miles away in another
small town called Cranberry . What was most alarming
is that there is NO TELEPHONE . The company name is
"Infoworks Technology" and there is no Listing for
them at www.whitepages.com . This is highly suspicious
because all legitimate companies have a telephone
where they can be reached . This leads to the
conclusion that either they are out-of-business or
they are a scam "business", and you will get no
support from them if a problem arises .
Using this software greatly compromises your identity
security and I feel your friend is either scamming you
or is naive, at least on security issues .

To continue to use this program when there are known
reliable Alternatives seems very foolish to me .

[LincolnSpector]

Hi, Rick.

I know I'm jumping into this discussion late, but there's something I want to add:

Do your children know that you've installed this? They should. The point isn't to trap them when they do something bad, but to make them think "I shouldn't do something bad."

Yes, they will gripe and complain. But if you don't tell them, and they find out the hard way, they'll gripe and complain more. And the issue will be 'Why are you secretly spying on me?" rather than "Why are you surfing porn sites?"

Lincoln

[coastie65]

I remember when my nephew was younger 12 - 14. He would come over and spend the day while his folks were at work. He would be here at the computer and i was over on the sofa playing something on one of the consoles. He would be playing a game then save and go on the internet. Well I would sneak a glance now and then and would notice him sneaking a peak to see if I was watching. I knew he was trying to go somewhere he shouldn't. He asked me once why I was alaways looking. Told him I was just making sure he didn't do something that would mess up the computer. He had a computer himself and I knew it. Anyway, he got up and wemt to the bathroom and I jumped over and went into Internet options and readjusted the content stuff. When he got back, it would only go to "G" rated sites. He got really frustrated and asked me why the computer would surf the web. I said that would and showed him by going to the Sesame St. site. Told him it only went to "G" rated sites. He told me I needed a new computer. Point is, the tools are there to keep kids from accessing unacceptable sites, it is up to the parents to use them.

[LincolnSpector]

coastie65, on 15 November 2010 - 05:19 PM, said:

I remember when my nephew was younger 12 - 14. He would come over and spend the day while his folks were at work. He would be here at the computer and i was over on the sofa playing something on one of the consoles. He would be playing a game then save and go on the internet. Well I would sneak a glance now and then and would notice him sneaking a peak to see if I was watching. I knew he was trying to go somewhere he shouldn't. He asked me once why I was alaways looking. Told him I was just making sure he didn't do something that would mess up the computer. He had a computer himself and I knew it. Anyway, he got up and wemt to the bathroom and I jumped over and went into Internet options and readjusted the content stuff. When he got back, it would only go to "G" rated sites. He got really frustrated and asked me why the computer would surf the web. I said that would and showed him by going to the Sesame St. site. Told him it only went to "G" rated sites. He told me I needed a new computer. Point is, the tools are there to keep kids from accessing unacceptable sites, it is up to the parents to use them.

And we all know how much 14-year-olds love Sesame Street!

Seriously, the challenge here is how much freedom you allow a kid, when to give them more freedom because they're a little older, and keeping the lines of communication opened. One of the reasons I like OnlineFamily.Norton is that it encourages communication. For instance, if the kid goes to a banned site (and you have a lot of control about what's banned), a web page comes up telling them that they're breaking a rule. They can choose to go forward and visit the site anyway, but if they do their parents will be informed. There's even a text box so the kid can explain why they're visiting this banned site.

Of course, kids will find their way around anything. When I was 13 (long before the Internet), I shared a bedroom with my 17-year-old brother. He had an extensive collection of Playboys that he kept in a locked drawer--the lock was to protect my innocence. I pulled out the drawer above it and got to the Playboys.

Lincoln

[Car54]

Cool, I didn't know about that one Lincoln, and I have NIS 2011 on my desktop, Safe Web Lite on another, and am trying the Beta of their DNS on another, but did not know about this one. Symantec is providing some very nice security tools

This post has been edited by Car54: 18 November 2010 - 10:20 AM

[Car54]

LincolnSpector, on 18 November 2010 - 08:27 AM, said:

Of course, kids will find their way around anything. When I was 13 (long before the Internet), I shared a bedroom with my 17-year-old brother. He had an extensive collection of Playboys that he kept in a locked drawer--the lock was to protect my innocence. I pulled out the drawer above it and got to the Playboys.

Lincoln

lol, very resourceful and creative solution

[coastie65]

I have to give it to Microsoft. That content thing works really well. I turn off the little pop up thing and it just blocks the site without the extra intrusion. My sister and her husband were concerned about waht he was watching on TV as he has a 42" Samsung HDTV with cable and all the movie channels. I told her to just set the parental controls on the Cable box or the TV as both ahd them. They never did as they are somewhat technology challenged. I told them that i would set it so that he couldn't watch anything above TV14, but they never said anything more and I gave up after I found out they let him watch " Saving Private Ryan " with them.

[LincolnSpector]

coastie65, on 18 November 2010 - 06:25 PM, said:

I have to give it to Microsoft. That content thing works really well. I turn off the little pop up thing and it just blocks the site without the extra intrusion. My sister and her husband were concerned about waht he was watching on TV as he has a 42" Samsung HDTV with cable and all the movie channels. I told her to just set the parental controls on the Cable box or the TV as both ahd them. They never did as they are somewhat technology challenged. I told them that i would set it so that he couldn't watch anything above TV14, but they never said anything more and I gave up after I found out they let him watch " Saving Private Ryan " with them.

Parents have to make their own decisions, and everyone has their own idea of what's appropriate. That's part of what makes the whole thing complicated.

My big objection to the parental controls on HDTVs is that they're all about content, and not at all about quantity. Ask any educational or child-rearing expert what the big problem with TV is, and they won't say R-rated movies. They'll say that kids watch too much of it.

Lincoln

[coastie65]

LincolnSpector, on 20 November 2010 - 10:50 PM, said:

coastie65, on 18 November 2010 - 06:25 PM, said:

I have to give it to Microsoft. That content thing works really well. I turn off the little pop up thing and it just blocks the site without the extra intrusion. My sister and her husband were concerned about waht he was watching on TV as he has a 42" Samsung HDTV with cable and all the movie channels. I told her to just set the parental controls on the Cable box or the TV as both ahd them. They never did as they are somewhat technology challenged. I told them that i would set it so that he couldn't watch anything above TV14, but they never said anything more and I gave up after I found out they let him watch " Saving Private Ryan " with them.

Parents have to make their own decisions, and everyone has their own idea of what's appropriate. That's part of what makes the whole thing complicated.

My big objection to the parental controls on HDTVs is that they're all about content, and not at all about quantity. Ask any educational or child-rearing expert what the big problem with TV is, and they won't say R-rated movies. They'll say that kids watch too much of it.

Lincoln

Good point. Other tha the Saturday morning cartoons, I didn't watch all the much TV. I was always too busy outside playing, or doing homework ( no computers or Video games in those days, heck we didn't even have calculators until about my Junior year, they used slide rules ).

This post has been edited by coastie65: 21 November 2010 - 09:19 AM

[Missu]

So lively here. Glad to learn a lot about security and antivirus from here, thanks.