how can i tell if someone is monitoring my pc use? (reliably

C

Cartoon Corpse

Veteran
you know like keyloggers? is it as simple as checking procs with progs like "enditall"? or are there more nefarious/invisible methods available? what about if im on a LAN? as opposed to just direct connect to ISP. suppose i can't tell if there is no component required to be resident on my pc.

the reason i ask, is, periodically, my desktop blinks and shifts a little to the left (icons, etc...not background). hasn't always done this. i've tried enditall, but i don't notice any processes, unless their trojan versions, that aren't supposed to be there.

is there a web resource for delving into such issues?
 
I don't think there is any 100% reliable way except to lock down access to you PC entirely. And by that I mean no network connections and you keep the PC in a locked room that only you have access to.

I'm still thinking of picking up an inline keyboard logger just for giggles. It records every keystroke and is pretty much undetectable. (You plug it into the mouseport and then the mouse into the device, it just captures everything invisibly)

No reason I want one other than to play, I don't like the idea of monitoring people like that. :?
 
If you have a router, you can have it log all packages and send it to your e-mail adress every hour or so. Works really well, but tends to generate very long lists.

And if you don't have a router, you really want to buy one.

If you see something suspicious, you can block it in the router.
 
Do consumer routers even have the option to block outgoing traffic? Considering the piddly hardware present in them (my DLink router has like, the same CPU as the Gameboy Advance in it), I would think that would be beyond their power.

Also, mailing lists of packets is all well and good I suppose, if you're feckin Brainiac and are able to decipher what the hell those lists really mean and which packets are potentially harmful and which are not...

Wouldn't it be far simpler to install a software firewall and set it to block ALL outgoing traffic, and then explicitly allow the stuff you want allowed?
 
Guden Oden said:
Do consumer routers even have the option to block outgoing traffic? Considering the piddly hardware present in them (my DLink router has like, the same CPU as the Gameboy Advance in it), I would think that would be beyond their power.
Click to expand...

Well, almost all of them are Linux servers. Which can run fine on a slow, 133 MHz processor, with a few megs of memory. So, it would depend on what they compile into the kernel and expose through the user interface so you can change it.

But I agree, there are quite some differences in the models sold.

Also, mailing lists of packets is all well and good I suppose, if you're feckin Brainiac and are able to decipher what the hell those lists really mean and which packets are potentially harmful and which are not...

Wouldn't it be far simpler to install a software firewall and set it to block ALL outgoing traffic, and then explicitly allow the stuff you want allowed?
Click to expand...

Do you want your computer to function afterwards? And what do you want it to do?
 
thanks for the help! i had thought about a router in the past. but then forgot about it.

anyone know why my desktop might shift about 1/2 inch to the left every so often? 3 or 4 hours? just icons...not open windows or wallpaper. it's odd. i also noticed today (my pc has been up for about 2 weeks solid now) my office outlook icon went from upper righthand corner of desktop to lower lefthand corner. does that indicate anything in particular? xp doesn't 'tidy' up on it's own (according to it's preferences) does it?
 
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