Spying On A PC

There may be times when, for whatever reason, you feel it necessary to inspect an employee's, or child's, or even a spouse's, computer system. Perhaps there have been other clues or activities that have caused you to feel suspicious, and you feel that it is warranted to take a look at their e-mail or instant message history to see if those suspicions are valid.

Don't Break The Law

Let me begin though, with a serious caveat.

You must ensure that you have the legal authority to access the system or risk facing the consequences of potentially criminal activity. Employer's typically own the systems their employee's use, and, therefore, have the right to access them and any data they may contain. The same can generally be said for a child's computer while they are still living in the parent's home. A spouse's computer may be quite a bit further into the gray area.

Covert or Overt Monitoring

Aside from ensuring that you have the legal grounds for accessing the system in the first place, before you embark on a covert reconnaissance mission of a computer system, you need to decide whether you want the individual to know about your activities or not. Announcing your intention to monitor the system may be a very good deterrent of suspicious activity in and of itself, but it may also just force the individual to find other means or cover their own tracks better, making it more difficult to monitor them.

Conducting Covert Monitoring

If you have decided that you want to spy on a PC AND that you wish that spying to remain a secret, there are two very important things you need to remember:

1. Beware Automatic Logins: Before you begin, you should unplug the network cable of the computer, or disable the wireless network adapter. Many programs, such as e-mail and instant messaging, are configured to automatically start when the account logs in. If the computer is connected to the Internet while you are investigating it, new e-mail messages could be downloaded or messages the user had saved in their outbox, but had not yet sent, may be inadvertently sent out. The instant messaging program may start, alerting all of their friends and contacts that they are online. You might get inundated with messages like "hey! aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" and may tip off the person you are investigating when their friends ask them why they were online at 3am or why they didn't reply to their instant message.

1. Leave It Like You Found It: Pay careful attention to exactly what programs or windows are open on the computer, including the current state they are in. If the computer is already turned on and logged in, trying to log out to search for other identities or user accounts could also shut down any programs the user is running and alert them that their account was tampered with while they were away. If you are examining e-mail accounts, make sure you make note of exactly what folder or message was displayed on the screen so that you can return the system to its original state when you are done investigating.

One Last Warning

Be warned. These steps are by no means comprehensive. There are a number of ways that a technically savvy person would still be able to detect that someone had used their system. These tricks only cover up obvious tracks so that the person isn't alerted or made suspicious of their computer being accessed in the first place. But, depending on how much the person knows, or what sort of auditing and logging or security software the individual has configured, attempts to access the system covertly may be detected.