Programs designed to monitor user activity. They may be used with or without consent. Because it is sold commercially, many anti-virus vendors do not detect them. The most common form of a commercial monitoring tool comes in the form of a keystroke logger, which intercepts keystrokes from the keyboard and records them in a log. This can then be sent to whoever installed the software, or keylogger, onto the machine. Some Commercial Monitoring Software may take screenshots or video and send the information to an outbound connection.
Comment
From their website:
"Monitor and record keystrokes, programs run, Web sites visited and instant messages. Send alerts and data via e-mail for remote viewing. It includes advanced blocking features and supports most instant messenger programs and browsers including AIM, AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ and GoogleTalk as well as Internet Explorer, Netscape and Firefox.
Key Features:
# Record keystrokes entered, programs run, Web sites visited and instant messages
# Send alerts and data via e-mail for remote viewing
# Web site filtering including blocked and allowed Web site lists
# Set user-specific usage timers on Web browsing, IMs and AOL
# Capture screen snapshots"
