How to spy on your spouse

By Timothy R. Homan
Daily News Correspondent
Friday, May 19, 2006 – Updated: 05:11 AM EST

Spouses who surreptitiously solicit online sex from juveniles now face a formidable challenge: the proliferation of spy monitoring computer programs.

As law enforcement groups and private vigilantes step up their efforts to lure in child predators, spouses too can analyze suspicious home Internet activity for about $40 to $100.

Programs initially used by parents to monitor what their children are doing online are also being used by wives willing to spy on their husbands, or vice versa. “Our consumer market is growing at about 25 percent a year,” said Kasey Sellati, spokeswoman for the Florida-based SpectorSoft Corp., a software manufacturer selling two spy programs.

Spector Pro, an undetectable program after installation, takes snapshots of the computer screen for later review.

“You can play things back, almost like a VCR on your TV,” Sellati said.

The company’s other program, eBlaster, allows for remote monitoring of e-mails, meaning a spouse in an office at work can keep track of e-mails sent from home.

“It will send you instant copies of each conversation,” Sellati said.

On Wednesday, former Southborough selectman William Christensen was arrested and charged with one count of indecent solicitation of a child, according to police.

He was apprehended in Rhode Island while walking toward a residence where he allegedly expected to have sex with a fictitious 15-year-old girl he met online.

With various software and hardware programs on the market, even the least tech-savvy computer users can find one they’re capable of installing.

Hardware devices, which work only on PCs, are usually plugged into the keyboard to record keystrokes but not e-mails or other means of communication.

Running spy software, on the other hand, requires at least a modicum of computer literacy. The programs are mostly password protected and provide copies of e-mails, as well as both sides of instant messenger conversations.

Software often takes up memory space, is sometimes detectable by other programs and can be used on a PC or laptop.

But there are legal limits to installing monitoring devices.

Spy programs may be installed by a spouse if there is joint ownership and use of a household computer, while a husband or wife’s laptop from work is considered off-limits.

The state’s attorney general office declined to comment on the specifics of installing monitoring programs.

In addition to computer programs, concerned spouses sometimes contact private investigators who point out telltale signs that a husband or wife may be involved in devious content online.

Tom Maher, a licensed investigator with Advanced Surveillance Group Inc. in Michigan, said one warning sign is “finding new stuff online designed to delete the cookies or history” of Internet activity.

The computer forensics specialist noted the difficulty in keeping tabs on a spouse soliciting juvenile sex, saying such people tend to be “a little more cautious.”

“At that point, it’s not going to be on a shared computer where someone else can get to it,” he said.