Crawler Parental control

[Guest]

[grcguy]

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone can tell me about "Crawler Parental Control". It seems to be a good program to monitor what the kids are doing and how long they are on the net. Does anyone have any experience with this software, good or bad?

thanks

[hyatt69]

there is a forum for this software by crawler http://forum.spywareterminator.com/Default.aspx?g=topics&f=11
 i have never used it,one that i have used and is very good,free and uses very little ram or cpu is k9 web protection by blue coat software

[grcguy]

Thanks. I will check it out, but I would still like some opinions if there are any out there.

[Little Mac]

I'm sure someone here has used it... might take a little time for this thread to pop up on their "radar" though.

LM

[aladinonl]

i used it before.
its totally free (means free), haha

first time using it, its very gud
then i need to reinstal XP. instal it again, cant execute the program . i just unsintal it, didnt bother try again coz i actually haf no need for a parental control program.

but for the 1st time, very gud, very customizable, do exactly anything u need to control ur computer:
evri user usin ur com, u can lock watever folder, file, program u dun wan em to use.
there r 5 levels (is it?) of control from child to master to set for each user but u can customize.
set time for internet, measure the time not only usin internet but for any program u wan.
haf a long list of bad sites and a long list of bad words dat u may consider to set for limitation on internet.
send report to ur email wit screen capture.

mite haf some other things i dun remember.. just try

do comodo consider a parental control program?
 (L)

[Little Mac]

There you go, grcguy!  Your first response from someone that used the program!   

Hope that helps,

LM

[grcguy]

Little Mac,

I have been using the program for a few weeks. It has locked up on me a few times, but overall its pretty good. Gives me screenshots of what my daughter is talking about on MSN, just to monitor.

thanks for the help.

regards,

grcguy.

 (B)

[aladinonl]

hows it lock u?
because u set it 2 lock u, i tink.
btw, i never praise the idea of monitoring others' freedom.
set it to lock critical files, folders, program execution, critical changes, bad sites.. dats enough.

[Little Mac]

grcguy,

If it has the ability to give you screenshots of your kids' activities, it's operating at some level in the same way keyloggers do.  Here's where things get a little dicey.  The keylogging concept has been around, and has been used by "admins" on a "legitimate" basis (just like parents) to monitor activity to make sure nobody's doing anything they shouldn't be.  There are programs written specifically to do that; some even take screenshots, rather than just log keystrokes.  There's a growing target market of parents, as folks get (rightly) concerned about their kids' safety on the internet.

However, many antispyware programs say that they detect and stop keyloggers.  Hmm, now the parental control programs don't call themselves keyloggers, but it is what they do...  And I'm thinking they're bound to make use of some of the same processes, services, etc, and use the same techniques that the malware keyloggers do.  Most of them say they are not detectable by AS apps.  So who's right?  I don't know; but be prepared for your security software to warn you about Crawler, and try to stop/quarantine/etc that component/module of it.

LM

[grcguy]

Little Mac,

Should I take this software off? I don't want it to do more harm than good. My kids are just starting to use MSN so I am not too worried right now, but...

Would I be able to tell if it was doing something I don't want (like sending out info or keylogging?

thanks

grcguy

[Little Mac]

That's probably a personal call, grcguy.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just that the way these apps work is in pretty much the same way as malware.  As far as if it were sending out info, that should be easy enough to monitor, especially if you have Comodo Firewall (not to plug the product, but it does provide a high level of control over how an application is allowed to access the internet).  Thus you could mnake sure that Crawler can send you the info you want (if it works by email, or whatever - I don't know its methodology), but can't go out wherever.  I used one of their other products, Spyware Terminator, for a long time, and never saw any suspicious behavior.

It is my understanding that some years ago, Crawler put out some adware in some of their stuff, but have since "reformed" and are no longer doing so.  Again, I never saw any suspicious behavior.

A friend asked me to look into parent control products for them as well, which I did.  It could really kinda make you paranoid, LOL.  If they're thorough,it seems to behave like spyware/malware/keyloggers, and I thought, "why should I trust this thing?"  The answer probably lies in the trustworthiness of the source, reviews, user input, and whatnot. 

You want to be able to have some assurance that your kids are relatively safe on the internet; control their site access, be aware of who their "buddies" are and what info they're foolishly handing out, etc.  And you want to do so in a way that does not violate their trust, nor compromise the security of your computer and/or home by being worse than the alternative.  In doing so, you have to be confident in the product and methods you're using.

I'm not in that position as a parent yet, but it'll be here before too long.  IMO, using something that logs their keystrokes or takes screenshots and reports to me, is a little invasive, if there's no specific reason to suspect trouble.  But that's just me.  However, something that tracks website usage, and allows blocking of bad sites (or sites you don't want your kids on, such as myspace, or whatever), is probably reasonable in this day and age.  It is your job, after all, to protect them.  If that reveals that they've found ways around security, or are intentionally makin' a run for the border, then perhaps more stringent methods are required. 

LM

[aladinonl]

LM really state out da thing dat i scare abt parental control app.it can turn back and slab u from behind.

like i said, just lock watever u wan, dats enough. no need to log keystrokes, screenshots or everi other freedom-violation things. my parents wanted to do dat too and they just made me SICK! dun ever mak ur children sick of u.

dun b 2 paranoid abt ur children.u tink u can watchdog evri step ur children take in this time? u lock porn sites, but u tink there is no other way they can find porn?
if da app miss something, its also worth 4 em to haf a try, i tink.

[grcguy]

Little Mac,

I will take your words and use discretion about how I use this product. I do use Comodo Firewall and it has not requested any outbound stuff when I use Crawler.

Thanks again for the input.

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