Law enforcement agencies across the country are now providing the parents with a software to protect their kids from online threats, that may emerge by using various online services. However, the tool that was supposed to help parents has become a weapon against them.
The software known as ComputerCop is capable of recording activities on the computer, it can take screenshot and record the keystrokes – that clearly indicates that it is no different than a keylogger. A keylogger is a malicious software used by hackers and other malicious people to record your computer activities and see what you are doing; It can reveal information such as passwords, bank accounts and more.
Whereas on the flip side, EFF founded that the software sends email over a non-secure network without any encryption. The e-mail that is being sent by using this method can be easily read, alter or even compromised.
“While that feature may sound impressive, in practice the software is unreliable,” the EFF report said. “On some computer systems, it produces a giant haystack of false positives, including flagging items as innocuous as raw computer code. On other systems, it will only produce a handful of results, while typing keywords such as ‘drugs’ into [OS X’s] Finder or [Windows 8’s] File Explorer will turn up a far larger number of hits.”
“Law enforcement agencies are passing around what amounts to a spying tool that could easily be abused by people who want to snoop on spouses, roommates, or coworkers,” EFF researcher Dave Maass, said in a statement.
However, In an interview, Stephen DelGiorno, co-founder Computer Corp, which has sold the software over a decade, said that not all are version are having a keylogger in them.
“We’re not trying to be a spy tool,” DelGiorno added.
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