Oct 04, 2009 Reply to: How to detect/remoce monitoring software? PLEASE NOTE: Do not post advertisements, offensive materials, profanity, or personal attacks. Please remember to.
As an IT Pro, I routinely monitor employees computers and emails. It’s essential in a work environment for administrative purposes as well as for security. Monitoring email, for example, allows you to block attachments that could contain a virus or spyware. The only time I have to connect to a users computer and do work directly on their computer is to fix a problem.
However, if you feel that you are being monitored when you shouldn’t be, there are a few little tricks you can use to determine if you’re right. First off, to monitor someones computer means that they can watch everything that you are doing on your computer in real time. Blocking porn sites, removing attachments or blocking spam before it gets to your inbox, etc is not really monitoring, but more like filtering.
The one BIG problem I want to emphasize before moving on is that if you are in a corporate environment and think you’re being monitored, you should assume they can see EVERYTHING you do on the computer. Also, assume that you won’t be able to actually find the software that is recording everything. In corporate environments, the computers are so customized and reconfigured that it’s nearly impossible to detect anything unless you’re a hacker. This article is more geared towards home users who thinks a friend or family member is trying to monitor them.
Computer Monitoring
So now, if you still think someone is spying on you, here’s what you can do! The easiest and simplest way someone can log into your computer is by using remote desktop. The good thing is that Windows does not support multiple concurrent connections while someone is logged into the console (there is a hack for this, but I would not worry about). What this means is that if you’re logged into your XP, 7 or Windows 8 computer and someone were to connect to it using the BUILT-IN REMOTE DESKTOP feature of Windows, your screen would become locked and it would tell tell you who is connected.
So why is that useful? It’s useful because it means that in order for someone to connect to YOUR session without you noticing or your screen being taken over, they have use third-party software. However, in 2014, no one is going to be that obvious and it’s a lot harder to detect third-party software stealth software.
If we’re looking for third-party software, which is usually referred to as remote control software or virtual network computing (VNC) software, we have to start from scratch. https://equipowerup946.weebly.com/system-utility-software-for-mac.html. Usually, when someone installs this type of software on your computer, they have to do it while you’re not there and they have to restart your computer. So the first thing that could clue you off is if your computer has been restarted and you don’t remember doing it.
Secondly, you should check in your Start Menu – All Programs and to see whether or not something like VNC, RealVNC, TightVNC, UltraVNC, LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, etc is installed. A lot of times people are sloppy and figure that a normal user won’t know what a piece of software is and will simply ignore it. If any of those programs are installed, then someone can connect to your computer without you knowing it as long as the program is running in the background as a Windows service.
That brings us to the third point. Usually, if one of the above listed programs are installed, there will be an icon for it in the task bar because it needs to be constantly running to work.
Check all of your icons (even the hidden ones) and see what is running. If you find something you’ve not heard of, do a quick Google search to see what pops up. It’s pretty easy for monitoring software to hide the taskbar icon, so if you don’t see anything unusual there, it doesn’t mean you don’t have monitoring software installed.
So if nothing is showing up in the obvious places, let’s move on to the more complicated stuff.
Check Firewall Ports
Again, because these are third-party apps, they have to connect to Windows on different communication ports. Ports are simply a virtual data connection by which computers share information directly. As you may already know, Windows comes with a built-in firewall that blocks many of the incoming ports for security reasons. If you’re not running an FTP site, why should your port 23 be open, right?
So in order for these third-party apps to connect to your computer, they must come through a port, which has to be open on your computer. You can check all the open ports by going to Start, Control Panel, and Windows Firewall. Then click on Allow a program of feature through Windows Firewall on the left hand side. Animation software mac open source.
Here you’ll see see a list of programs with check boxes next to them. The ones that are checked are “open” and the unchecked or unlisted ones are “closed”. Go through the list and see if there is a program you’re not familiar with or that matches VNC, remote control, etc. If so, you can block the program by un-checking the box for it!
Check Outbound Connections
Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than this. In some instances, there may be an incoming connection, but in many cases, the software installed on your computer will only have an outbound connection to a server. In Windows, all outbounds connections are allowed, which means nothing is blocked. If all the spying software does is record data and send it to a server, then it only uses an outbound connection and therefore won’t show up in that firewall list.
In order to catch a program like that, we have to see outbound connections from our computer to servers. There are a whole host of ways we can do this and I’m going to talk about one or two here. Like I said earlier, it gets a bit complicated now because we’re dealing with really stealthy software and you’re not going to find it easily.
TCPView
Firstly, download a program called TCPView from Microsoft. It’s a very small file and you don’t even have to install it, just unzip it and double-click on Tcpview. The main window will look like this and probably make no sense.
Basically, it’s showing you all the connections from your computer to other computers. On the left side is the process name, which will be the programs running, i.e. Chrome, Dropbox, etc. The only other columns we need to look at are Remote Address and State. Go ahead and sort by State column and look at all of them processes listed under ESTABLISHED. Established means there is currently an open connection. Note that the spying software may not always be connected to the remote server, so it’s a good idea to leave this program open and monitor for any new processes that may show up under the established state.
What you want to do is filter out that list to processes whose name you don’t recognize. Chrome and Dropbox are fine and no cause for alarm, but what’s openvpn.exe and rubyw.exe? Well, in my case, I use a VPN to connect to the Internet so those process are for my VPN service. However, you can just Google those services and quickly figure that out yourself. VPN software is not spying software, so no worries there. When you search for a process, you’ll instantly be able to tell whether or not it’s safe by just looking at the search results.
Another thing you want to check are the far right columns called Sent Packets, Sent Bytes, etc. Sort by Sent Bytes and you can instantly see which process is sending the most data from your computer. If someone is monitoring your computer, they have to be sending the data somwhere, so unless the process is hidden extremely well, you should see it here.
Process Explorer
Another program you can use to find all the processes running on your computer is Process Explorer from Microsoft. When you run it, you’ll see a whole lot of information about every single process and even child processes running inside parent processes.
Process Explorer is pretty awesome because it connects up with VirusTotal and can tell you instantly if a process has been detected as malware or not. To do that, click on Options, VirusTotal.com and then click on Check VirusTotal.com. It’ll bring you to their website to read the TOS, just close that out and click Yes on the dialog in the program.
Once you do that, you’ll see a new column that shows the last scan detection rate for a lot of the processes. It won’t be able to get the value for all processes, but it’s better than nothing. For the ones that don’t have a score, go ahead and manually search for those processes in Google. For the ones with scores, you want it to pretty much say 0/XX. If it’s not 0, go ahead and Google the process or click on the numbers to be taken to the VirusTotal website for that process.
I also tend to sort the list by Company Name and any process that doesn’t have a company listed, I Google to check. Free mac photo editing app. However, even with these programs you still may not see all the processes.
Rootkits
There are also a class stealth programs called rootkits, which the two programs above won’t even be able to see. In this case, if you found nothing suspicious when checking all the processes above, you’ll need to try even more robust tools. Another good tool from Microsoft is Rootkit Revealer, however it’s very old.
Other good anti-rootkit tools are Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit Beta, which I would highly recommend since their anti-malware tool was ranked #1 in 2014. Another popular one is GMER.
I suggest you install these tools and run them. If they find anything, remove or delete whatever they suggest. In addition, you should instal anti-malware and anti-virus software. A lot of these stealth programs that people use are considered malware/viruses, so they will get removed if you run the appropriate software. If something gets detected, make sure to Google it so you can find out whether it was monitoring software or not.
Email & Web Site Monitoring
To check whether your email is being monitored is also complicated, but we’ll stick with the easy stuff for this article. Whenever you send an email from Outlook or some email client on your computer, it always has to connect to an email server. Now it can either connect directly or it can connect through what is called a proxy server, which takes a request, alters or checks it, and forwards it on to another server.
If you’re going through a proxy server for email or web browsing, than the web sites you access or the emails you write can be saved and viewed later on. You can check for both and here’s how. For IE, go to Tools, then Internet Options. Click on the Connections tab and choose LAN Settings.
If the Proxy Server box is checked and it has a local IP address with a port number, then that means you’re going through a local server first before it reaches the web server. This means that any web site you visit first goes through another server running some kind of software that either blocks the address or simply logs it. The only time you would be somewhat safe is if the site you are visiting is using SSL (HTTPS in the address bar), which means everything sent from your computer to the remote server is encrypted. Even if your company were to capture the data in-between, it would be encrypted. I say somewhat safe because if there is spying software installed on your computer, it can capture keystrokes and therefore capture whatever you type into those secure sites.
For your corporate email, you’re checking for the same thing, a local IP address for the POP and SMTP mail servers. To check in Outlook, go to Tools, Email Accounts, and click Change or Properties, and find the values for POP and SMTP server. Unfortunately, in corporate environments, the email server is probably local and therefore you are most definitely being monitored, even if it’s not through a proxy.
You should always be careful in writing emails or browsing web sites while at the office. Trying to break through the security also might get you in trouble if they find out you bypassed their systems! IT people don’t like that, I can tell you from experience! However, it you want to secure your web browsing and email activity, your best bet is to use VPN like Private Internet Access.
This requires installing software on the computer, which you may not be able to do in the first place. However if you can, you can be pretty sure no one is able to view what you’re doing in your browser as long as their is no local spying software installed! There is nothing that can hide your activities from locally installed spying software because it can record keystrokes, etc, so try your best to follow my instructions above and disable the monitoring program. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
Atera: Top Remote Monitoring ToolOur score: 9.0User satisfaction: 100%
What is the best remote monitoring software?
The best remote monitoring software is Atera. It boasts of a robust and comprehensive suite of tools for IT infrastructure monitoring and development. It also provides you with out-of-the-box functionalities for incident management, root cause analysis, and network monitoring and insights for optimal efficiency.
Back in the days, traditional IT support meant going to premises and fixing computer problems. With remote monitoring software, you no longer have to burden yourself with interrupted times for on-site IT support, causing your business recurring costs, employee productivity, and burnout. Getting a remote monitoring system does away with these issues. Fixing software becomes more efficient, faster and less costly.
However, remote monitoring and support software comes in a variety of features. But they do share underlying similarities, mainly they afford you the benefit of immediate IT support sans the complex algorithms and installations. Some of the key factors to consider are process management and control setups, technical support, proactive system monitoring, and security protocols.
Here, we present to you twelve of the best remote monitoring software available in the market based on key features, scalability, reputation, pricing and integration. The list makes it easy for you to get an overview of the market and compare the features and benefits. Our team has made this review as comprehensive and digestible as possible to help you shortlist the best-fitting solutions. Whether it be through a flexible pricing package or a cutting-edge suite of intuitive and comprehensive support tools, this review has you covered.
Cloud-based IT support is definitely making a permanent mark in the industry. According to a report by Forbes, more than 50% of IT spending will be cloud-based by 2018. Nine out of 10 companies are joining in this digital revolution for wanting better organizational agility and mobility, enhanced collaboration, rapid innovation and enhanced security. And according to the 2018 Technavio market research report, the IT management solution industry will see a 9% CAGR between 2018 and 2022. This implies that there is no other perfect time for companies to invest their IT spending for streamlining operations.
Of course, security remains a major concern in IT support. Around 66% of IT professionals agree that security is one of the main points for consideration in adopting any cloud computing platform.
While monitoring software may seem pretty simple in layman’s term, there is more to it than meets the eye. It is a multi-pronged system that involves several processes for incident management, change management, and problem management. Some monitoring software solutions even have built-in knowledge management systems in place.
With the unprecedented domination of cloud-based solutions over traditional support, IT will continue to be a prevalent investment and driver in the industry. It was estimated that the hiring of IT technical specialists would go down by 5% by 2021 and AI-enabled customer-facing service desks will rise to around 25% percent by 2020.
With the right solution for you, your business can keep up with industry standards. You can significantly cut costs, boost productivity and focus on sound strategy and planning. Of course, the first step forward is to determine the right solution for you.
12 Best Remote Monitoring Software1. Atera
Topping our best remote monitoring software list is Atera, an all-around MSP toolbox that comes with various business tools for remote PC monitoring and management, ticketing, customer management and automation. With its RMM module, you can enable on-demand IT support for your business through proactive issue spotting, root-cause analysis, patch management and more. MSPs enjoy the benefit of having to resolve and manage technical issues without the strenuous travel times and interrupted workflows. As an RMM solution, you have absolute control over your IT infrastructure, from networking monitoring for small and medium-sized businesses to automated help desks and scripting. Atera also facilitates patch management, IT asset databasing and inventory, security checks and more.
More than a remote monitoring solution, it also comes with a billing and invoicing module fully integrated with QuickBooks and Freshbooks and lets you document every payment transaction. This module is as good as any invoicing app you’ll find out there. Technicians can also enjoy its capability for mobile viewing as it lets them resolve IT issues anytime and anywhere.
If these sound like appealing features for you, you can see it happen in real time when you sign up for Atera free trial.
The solution offers support for Windows, Linux, Mac and web and comes with native applications for Android and iOS. Atera plans start at $79 per technician per month.
Atera
Try out Atera with their free trial
How To Detect Monitoring Software On Mac2. ManageEngine OpManagerHow To Detect Monitoring Software On Mac
ManageEngine OpManager offers a simplified and end-to-end solution for remote monitoring for heterogenous, enterprise IT networks. It features a unified network monitoring solution that lets enterprises monitor devices like routers, firewalls, wireless LAN controllers, servers and anything that is IP or network-connected. Users gain comprehensive monitoring and control over network assets. It has a multi-level thresholds capability so users can monitor network performance, set caps, and receive immediate notifications and alerts for errors and bottlenecks. The solution is also user-friendly and doesn’t require much technical skills. You can also access templated dashboards or you can create your own.
The vendor offers a comprehensive free trial to get you up to speed with features.
The software is supported through Windows, Linux, Web, and offers native apps for Android and iOS. Currently, the solution offers device-based pricing and quote-based pricing models.
3. Glasswire
Next on our list is Glasswire, a free network remote monitoring software for businesses of any size that offers viable visual network monitoring, security, network performance monitoring, and connection detection tools. With its visual network monitoring module, users can view all previous and current network activity on an intuitive dashboard. You can also fast-track host monitoring to resolve any malicious activity occurring on your servers. Added security is ensured by visualizing network data so you are aware of communication flows and processes occurring over the cloud. It also features discreet alarms for suspicious activities within your network or external threats trying to break into your system.
Among its unique features is a network time machine module that lets you view your network activities even from way before. Using a graph with accompanying time sliders, you can check your network activity for a particular day, week, or even month.
To catch a glimpse of these multiple tools and how they could impact your business, you can sign up for Glasswire free trial.
The solution has a native app for Android and starts at $39 per month with an option for bulk purchases through quote-based plans.
4. EventLog Analyzer
EventLog Analyzer documents your log data from the internet and encrypts them for use in audits and analysis. It automatically hashes and time-stamps the data to ensure integrity and transparency. It also features an agentless and agent-based log collection and import capability so you can correlate and sift through tons of data in your system. Custom log parses capture fields in different formats. The software consolidates log data from routers, firewalls, routers, switches, etc to gain insights on security policies and rule changes, logons and offs, and any malicious data entry.
With EventLog Analyzer, you have a solution that can implement a comprehensive audit to counter data theft, identity attacks, and downtime tracking. Its integrated data management system captures web attacks, failed logons, database server activities and more to prevent any major breach on your end.
The vendor offers a comprehensive free trial to get you up to speed with the features. You can sign up for EventLog Analyzer free trial.
The solution is supported through Windows, Linux, and Mac and offers no native apps for Android and iOS. Plans are available on a quote-based basis.
5. Zoho Assist
Zoho Assist equips small and medium-sized business with an intuitive, creative freeware for remote troubleshooting. Among its key selling propositions is its bi-directional file transfer mechanism for easy sharing of files across multiple devices, a live chat feature for communication and collaboration, and a capability for scheduling sessions for remote support.
Moreover, it comes with built-in tools for working across multiple monitors, printing from a remote device and rebooting or reconnecting from the computer. Get voice memos app on mac. It gives users cutting-edge tools for remote access, screen sharing, security and transparency and a comprehensive customization capability for branding and operations.
An appealing test drive of all software features is available to you when you sign up for Zoho Assist free trial.
The solution is supported through Windows, Mac, Web, Windows Mobile, and comes with native apps for iOS and Android. Plans start at $8 per technician per month, inclusive of primary features such as file transfer, instant chat, multi-monitor navigation, session transfers and more.
6. InterGuard
InterGuard equips your business with tools that significantly increase productivity, adhere with compliance, safeguard critical information and conduct employee investigation. It’s also designed to ensure that disruption is at minimal by working discreetly. There are four core modules which could be utilized individually, ideal if you’re looking for something specific. One module for web filtering, another for remote endpoint lockdown, the other is for preventing data loss and finally, for monitoring and investigating employees. You could also have these four work together for complete security and compliance while supercharging productivity.
Should you want to investigate the platform firsthand, you can easily do so when you can sign up for InterGuard free trial.
The software’s lack of minimum requirement regarding the number of licenses to buy, coupled with a discount on high volume purchase, makes it perfect for business of any size. The cloud-hosted version can be availed for $7.08/agent/month starting after 4 licenses. The on-premise version is available by quote.
7. Zabbix
Zabbix is a unified, free and open-source solution ideal for all business types for streamlined monitoring of network data from virtual machines and devices. The software facilitates the speedy gathering of network data, data visualization, and instant alerts and notifications on technical issues. Zabbix is easy to set up and configure and comes with creative templates for integration and installation.
Among its key selling features is Zabbix Agent module which lets users track network utilization metrics in a snap. Its notification and communication module also makes for the swift delegation of alerts, notifications, and streamlined communications among stakeholders.
Aside from automated metric collection and communication, it also boasts of tools for trend prediction, anomaly detection, problem forecasting, intelligent alerting, event correlation, and remote command executions.
Zabbix is purely web-based in terms of support. It is deployed as a freeware.
8. SolarWinds RMM
SolarWinds RMM offers an intuitive, user-friendly tool for maintaining, managing and securing IT infrastructure and support for businesses and MSPs. With SolarWinds RMM, your team gets a comprehensive suite of tools for network monitoring and management. Users are afforded tools for security checks, performance monitoring, and issue and event management. The software also offers a robust security module, strengthening your protection from malicious content on the cloud. It is capable of fully centralizing and automating patch management without the use of third-party tools. It comes with modules for ticket generation, knowledge base and portal, and workflow management for efficient deployment of IT support.
Moreover, it offers a compact suite of tools for endpoint detection and response. With it, MSPs can detect and mitigate threats when ransomware invades your business’ IT infrastructure. The module includes automated rollback, real-time financial analysis, behavioral AI, and forensic analytical tools.
SolarWinds RMM is supported through Windows and Mac and has native apps for Android and iOS. You can gain hold of its various features and benefits by securing a quote-based plan with the vendor.
9. Nagios XI
Nagios XI equips businesses of any size with a flexible, reliable, intuitive solution for enhancing network performance, infrastructural integrity, and incident resolution. The software lets you track all assets and components of your IT infrastructure by providing a comprehensive showcase of data relevant to operations. Among its primary modules is its log server module which allows businesses to view, analyze, and question logs from all devices and locations. The module consolidates data and packages it into useful business insight. The module lets users pinpoint incidents faster and identify correlations among events.
Nagios also expedites quicker access to data pertinent to IT infrastructure. It comes with an intuitive web platform that provides a quality overview of hosts, services, and network devices. Its capacity planning module lets users identify problems in a snap and develop and design plans to rebuild the IT infrastructure. It also comes with reporting and analytical tools, configuration wizards, and multiple users capabilities.
The software is supported through Windows, Linux, and Mac. It has no native apps for mobile. Nagios XI standard edition plans start at $1995, and already includes some flagship features, including configuration wizards, advanced reporting and visualization, custom user dashboards, dashboard deployment, and more.
10. Bomgar Remote Support
Bomgar Remote Support gives IT professionals a compact set of tools for controlled and integral remote access. Users can access any device from anywhere in a protected manner to resolve IT issues. With its high-level remote monitoring module, Bomgar Remote Support lets users manage, monitor, and control access for incident resolution. A password protection module ensures that privileged users’ privacy and data integrity are never compromised. Passwords are stored in a vault with high-level security measures in place. Bomgar also encrypts all your connections so administrators have a seamless and secured journey on the cloud.
The software has collaboration features, session forensics, web and mobile consoles, credentials management, and more.
It is supported through Windows, Linux, Mac, and has native apps for Android and iOS. Plans start at $1,795 per concurrent license, but interested parties may also secure a quotation for owned appliances with advanced features and deployment.
11. WhatsUp Gold
WhatsUp Gold is a unified network monitoring software designed for medium and large managed service providers (MSPs) and IT enterprises to map network infrastructure and troubleshoot efficiently. Users can track connections among devices as well as visualize and present network statuses and transactions. Its network mapping module gives users the power to surface a plethora of network reports for various devices, servers, and machines.
It is equipped with state-of-the-art topology-aware monitoring that identifies network errors and activities to effectively alert you for malicious attacks. You occasionally receive multi-platform, customizable notifications so you can resolve issues as they happen. Users can also leverage its customizable dashboards to tailor-fit reports, applications or tools and streamline administration and support.
WhatsUp Gold has web-based support and has native apps for iOS and Android. The software offers a free trial and is offered on a quotation basis.
12. TeamViewer
Rounding up our best remote monitoring software list, TeamViewer, another open source, built-in, free remote access software for small and medium-sized businesses. While it has similar capabilities with other big names in the market, TeamViewer differentiates itself by offering a powerful set of tools for IT infrastructure management. It has remote device control which lets you control remote computers, Android, or Windows 10 mobile devices on the go. Users also enjoy cross-platform access, whether from PC to PC, mobile to PC, among others. A user and device configuration management module lets you create permissions and access and curating groups for specific access controls. Control transfer is also made easy with TeamViewer to facilitate smoother workflows.
More than the expected remote monitoring functionalities, TeamViewer also features comprehensive reporting, ticket management, automated mass deployment, service queueing, custom branding, and management consoles.
TeamViewer is supported through Windows, Linux, Mac, and Windows Mobile. It has native apps for Android and iOS. It is a freeware, but potential users can avail of its one-time license purchase for as low as $749, inclusive of more advanced functionalities such as single-user license, unlimited endpoints, Wake-on-Lan, PC2PC, Mobile2PC, and more.
Select the solution that fits your needs
An important thing to consider is the capability of the remote tracking and monitoring module for each application. Carefully evaluate how well the solution could fit into your current business workflows and models. Remember that the tools that come with the software may gradually affect how your team works in the long run. An overhaul of the current process may prove to be difficult for bigger and more diverse teams.
Having mentioned that, also determine the support you will need considering your workflows and standard processes. Will a solution that offers only web-based support suffice? Or would you rather opt for a multi-support system that caters to businesses with a wider device dependency? Atera, ManageEngine OpManager, Zoho Assist, Solarwinds RMM, Bomgar, and TeamViewer offer the widest support for various popular devices.
And since remote monitoring solutions involve a lot of data, you should also painstakingly research what security measures or tools come with the packages. To what extent will your data and logs be protected from cyber attacks or malicious content? Some solutions may not have a comprehensive security tool included. But in any case, you need to attack-proof your infrastructure. You may want to check the best IT security software to help protect your IT infrastructure from malicious threats.
Moreover, since efficiency relies heavily on an integrated communications system, identify what specific tools or built-in functionalities come with the software that enables smooth communication flow among various stakeholders. You may also determine how well a remote monitoring solution seamlessly integrates with a range of communication software solutions.
Lastly, before you finalize your purchase decision, make sure that you do the crucial step of taking the free trial route. Consult with the vendors and gain a comprehensive background of these solutions to determine which offer the most well-rounded proposal. For our top solution, for example, you can sign up for Atera free trial.
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