is anyone spying my PowerBook

Z

zoranb

Registered
In what ways can one "spy" using Internet access ones laptop? If the Remote Management is unchecked is there any other way even using 3rd party software to see what one is doing?
 
Your programs can be contacting their servers. Some are benign, such as checking for updates.

Others . . . like MS Word, are sending all of your documents to M$ . . . building up a dossier on you which will be used when Bill Gate conquers [Stop that!--Ed.]

Okay . . . okay, seriously, conceivable a virus could do the same thing, as well as "keyloggers." To my knowledge--having just had this discussion HERE recently--there are none.

Many recommend the program Little Snitch which will tell you what is trying to connect with the outside world. You can grant and deny permission.

--J.D.
 
What if i make a search with spotlight using names of probable/candidate apps that might be responsible for spying, can that help? Problem is what might those be?
Once i find something, then just delete it!
 
Weeeelllllll . . . your might delete things you need. Furthermore, if you do not know what to look for, you will not find it with Spotlight.

You can turn on Activity Monitor . . . but you need to know what to look for.

As far as I know, Little Snitch and a good Firewall will make you as secure as you need--provided you have an administrator password that is good.

--J.D.
 
I am not sure I have an answer to that, and I am not sure I understand the question.

I am unaware of Mac OS applications whose job it is to view your desktop and grab your files to send someplace else unless you are involved in filesharing. Have that on, give people the right to look at your stuff . . . they will find it.

For example, over a wireless I often get access to other people's iTunes libraries. I can listen to their ABBA with impunity. I cannot download the music or add/subtract to it. I believe you can turn off that ability of others to share your music.

--J.D.
 
Maybe im too extreme on this issue, but let me put it this way. Is the only way you can watch ones desktop, via the remote desktop management option in the sharing pane? Or can there be other alternative ways?
 
Or rather: What makes you suspect someone's spying on you in the first place?
 
If you have your sharing services OFF, and your firewall ON, then you have almost zero risk that any type of 'spy' action is possible.
 
This is quite completely untrue, DeltaMac. A trojan, for example, would not show up as a Sharing service. And if you're writing a trojan, you certainly keep the integrated Firewall in mind. Maybe you'd even directly attack it and LittleSnitch.
 
Well i was handed a MBPro from my company and i don't want in any case to be watched over, on what im doing with the laptop. Thats all, so im trying to find out and make certain that noone is spying on me!
 
zoranb said:
Well i was handed a MBPro from my company and i don't want in any case to be watched over, on what im doing with the laptop. Thats all, so im trying to find out and make certain that noone is spying on me!
Click to expand...

If the MacBook Pro is the company's property, then they have every right in the world to view your emails, lock down your system, and observe every action that you take on the computer. One way to find out is to simply ask your company if they will be monitoring your activities on the computer -- if you're in the USA, they are legally bound to not lie about it. Of course, they can say, "we plead the fifth," but they cannot say "no, we are not monitoring activities" and then monitor your activities.

If you were "given" the MacBook Pro, and it is YOUR property (you can take it with you after you quit or get fired and do not have to return it to the company), then the company has NO right to monitor your activities, and it would be illegal for them to do so.

If the MacBook Pro is yours and only yours, then one way to eliminate all worry about what's on the MacBook Pro is to simply format the drive and re-install Mac OS X from the Mac OS X Install/Restore CDs/DVDs that came with the MacBook Pro, or with a retail version of Leopard. Then, you and only you know what's on the computer and what's going on with the operating system.
 
If the company gave you a car, and it was for use only for company business *but* you were allowed to use it as transport to and fro-ing from home to the workplace ... the company wouldn't worry if you used the car to nip down the shops for bread, milk & the paper ... as long as you are responsible all will be dandy.

You probably wouldn't use the car in street racing or use it to leave tire tattoos on the road surface, you get the picture?
 
If work gave you a laptop to perform work functions, assume you are being monitored, period.

As mentioned above, it all depends on what you mean by "I was handed a MBPro by my company".

Do you use this laptop at work? Via their LAN or WAN?
 
lbj said:
Do you use this laptop at work? Via their LAN or WAN?
Click to expand...
No i dont, its for home use only! But why are all the others analyzing this so much. It dont matter why i was handed this laptop, its illegal to work at home and not getting payed, so stop analyzing this issue. Its beside the point.
How can i check to see if there are apps installed responsible for spying. If one would tell me a few apps that can do this, then id just check to see if they are installed, right?
 
Any Mac OS X anti-virus software (McAfee, Symantec, etc.) will tell you this information.

...but I would recommend not worrying about it at all unless you highly suspect something is on there and your computer is exhibiting symptoms of being infected with keystroke loggers and/or other types of monitoring software.

You could always do a System Profiler report of your applications, post it here, and we can scan it for known threats.
 
I don't see that option, but it's simple to "Save As..." on the whole report to an RTF document, then open the report in TextEdit and do a text search for "Applications" to jump you straight to the applications section.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top