Spy Review

The USB SnoopTeK Stick is a blend of technologies to create an effective and useful surveillance device. The SnoopTeK Stick is a fairly standard USB memory stick with capacities in 512MB and 1GB variations. The real magic is in the software which features real-time monitoring of a target computer, installed in 60 seconds straight from the memory stick!

Covert monitoring software is very common, giving you access to all kinds of information. This particular package allows you to snoop on instant messaging logs, see the sender and recipient of emails being received, perform live screen captures, disable internet access, set time restrictions, block port access and prevent certain applications from running. It’s marketed as a suite to monitor what your children are doing at the computer when you’re not around.

An intriguing stance by the SnoopTeK Stick vendor is that it doesn’t actually log the contents of emails for privacy reasons. However, you could argue that monitoring instant messaging sessions would be just as much of an invasion of privacy. The vendor’s argument is that it’s more likely for an email to contain private information relating to medical, financial or other personal issues. I’d say I agree with that, and its a stance I’ve not seen a company take before.

So what about the legal issues? If you own the computer that you are monitoring, or you have permission to monitor that computer, then you’re not breaking the law. However, if you install the software on someone else’s PC, that’s considered illegal. This is another reason the device is being aimed at parents.

The software is real-time monitoring, which in this case it means you can see the information on the target system as it happens. Other products typically send you an email of what’s going on when certain events are triggered. If you’re unfamiliar with the basics of computer surveillance, I suggest reading Part 1 of my computer surveillance guide.

Any kind of surveillance software that can quickly install itself from a USB key is a useful little tool to have. With a small degree of effort, you can take almost any surveillance software and have it install itself on a target computer directly from a USB key. Not something that I condone, but you might have legal grounds to do so.

The SnoopTeK Stick was found on PI Mall thanks to the Red Ferret.