Tracking Software Glossary

Ever wonder what some tracking software phrases mean? Because it can be confusing, we have compiled a list of phrases with accurate definitions to help increase both your general and specific understanding.

Activity Tracking
Activity tracking is a general term used when somebody would like to track what has been done on one or more computers.

Chat tracking
The ability to track chat and instant message conversations.

Computer Tracking (also known as computer monitoring)
The ability to track what is done on a computer.

Cyber bullying
When a group or individual intimidates another person online. This comes in many forms, some of which are chat, message boards, blogs, etc.

Cyber Stalking
There are times when a person is constantly being harassed by a person on every website they visit. It is the same thing as “real world” stalking, but it is done online.

Document tracking
Recording activity from word processing applications such as MS Word, MS Office, or MS Works.

Email tracking
Software that records emails sent and received.

Enterprise tracking software (also known as Business tracking software and employee web tracking)
Many companies need to have the ability to track all employee activity, some companies have thousands of computer and would like to track all activity throughout their entire organization.

File transfer tracking
With the ease of moving files from a computer to a removable media drive, many companies and parents want to keep track of what files have been sent to removable media drives like thumb drives, floppy discs, and rewriteable compact discs (CDs).

Keylogger (also known as a keystroke logger)
Keyloggers are available in two forms: hardware, which is very detectable, and software, which is more sophisticated. A software keylogger will track any key that has been typed on the computer. Some keyloggers -- like SpectorSoft products -- will allow you to see a password when you would normally see an asterisk mark. Example: ***** would reveal a password.

Facebook and MySpace tracking
Facebook.com and MySpace.com are popular social networking sites where people can connect and communicate with each other via chats, webmail, blogs, and personal profiles. Specialized tracking software like Spector Pro recognizes the importance of being able to record any of the activity within Facebook and MySpace. Spector Pro even has a special recording group and tab to accommodate those who wish to focus on activity occurring within those sites, like parents concerned about their children or employers who are concerned about social networking activity draining work productivity.

Password logging
This is a general term used to describe the recording of passwords. In most cases, you can find a password using keylogging tools.

P2P (Peer-to-Peer) Tracking
Several years ago P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing became mainstream. P2P recording is intended to track all activity accomplished via common file-sharing applications.

Search engine tracking
Search Engine Tracking describes the tracking of words entered in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any one of a number of other search engines.

Remote Tracking Software
Remote tracking software is a program that is installed on the target computer and will send recorded activity to a remote location. eBlaster is also the ONLY remote tracking software that has an option to install the software from a distance.

Snapshot tracking
Consider a snapshot to be a photo taken by a camera. Snapshot tracking will take pictures of the computer monitor every few seconds and store the activity in the order the pictures were taken. Snapshot tracking is a visual recording technology.

Spy Software
Spy software is a generalized term used to describe tracking the activity on a computer.

User activity tracking
Use Activity Tracking is a term describing the ability to track the activity for each Windows user account on a computer.

Web tracking
Recording websites that people visit when using a computer. Some website tracking tools will also provide you with the ability to block websites from being visited.