Software that can spy on you Privacy from Companies6/15/2000; 7:47:23 AM "A growing number of companies clearly think that it's acceptable to build covert monitoring systems into their programs. Proposed legislation specifically allows software vendors to exercise "self-help" in enforcing their copyrights -- actions that could include disabling your computer if they think you have violated the terms of your license agreement. Meanwhile, the ubiquitous Internet connectivity afforded by cable modems and DSL will make it harder and harder for us to know when these sorts of programs are active."I don't just bring this up as a warning, I have a solution for you, too. The ideal solution? Convert to linux, examine the source code of everything you run, and keep a network sniffer handy just-in-case.That's not feasible for most people. What is feasible is a nifty program called Zone Alarm. That program intercepts all network communication on your system and makes sure you approve of it. It gives you a lot of flexibility... for instance, as an experiment I once had this program set things up so Napster could receive songs but couldn't respond to download requests. If the DSSAgent program mentioned in the article had tried to access the Internet, ZoneAlarm would have brought it to your attention and allowed you to block it. It's annoying at first to give your normal programs the permission they need to function, but the first time you see something come up that you have no idea what it is or what it's doing, you won't regret it.