SoftActivity

Activity Monitor 5.6 released

October 27th, 2010
  • fix: in Internet log for IE browser page title sometimes was recorded from another tab or browser window
  • improved compatibility with antivirus products
  • fix: scrolling on Email panel was slow for large emails
  • new: Duration column for visited websites in HTML export
  • more minor fixes

Internet Abuse at the Office, Monitor Staff Internet Usage

October 26th, 2010

Have you ever lost profits or confidential information due to Internet abuse? Do you have reasonable suspicion that some of your employees fail in their duties? Having total control over your local network is a good chance to know whether you are correct or not and eliminate Internet abuse at the office. With feature-rich staff Internet use monitoring software from SoftActivity, you can have your hand on the pulse of what is going on in your LAN that will allow you to know what your employees do when they are supposed to work.Read More

SoftActivity TS Monitor 2.0 released

October 21st, 2010
  • new: recording of Microsoft Exchange email sent/received in Outlook
  • new: recording of secure POP3/SMTP email sent/received in Outlook (previously only non-secure was supported)
  • new: recording IMAP email in Outlook
  • new: recording of Skype instant messages; both sides of conversations
  • new: recording of AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) chat; both sides of conversations
  • new: option to constantly display a warning to monitored users in a small window in top-right corner of the screen
  • new: uses less memory (RAM) and CPU resources
  • new: improved reliability. If monitoring process stops due to crash it restarts automatically and monitoring continues
  • new: support of Google Chrome browser for Internet monitoring
  • new: check for updates button on About tab. Option to automatically check for updates weekly.
  • lots of fixes and improvements

LAN monitoring tool: monitor computers in local network

September 27th, 2010

The Internet abuse in the workplace presents a significant risk for employers costing them hours of company’s productivity and important information leakage. Wouldn’t it be nice if you can monitor Internet usage in LAN and see what your employees are doing when they are supposed to work? SoftActivity is ready to offer you such a splendid opportunity! Take advantage of our powerful LAN monitoring tool and monitor office computers activity remotely from a single administrator’s PC.Read More

Activity Monitor 5.5 released

August 25th, 2010
  • new: recording of Microsoft Exchange® email sent/received in Outlook
  • new: recording of secure POP3/SMTP email sent/received in Outlook (previously only non-secure was supported)
  • new: recording IMAP email in Outlook
  • new: collect of Agent logs feature now uses Windows Scheduled Tasks. This allows for unattended downloads of logs and screenshots, i.e. when Activity Monitor is not open.
  • new: Agent in Aware Mode (when you want to inform users about monitoring) displays semi-transparent warning window in the top-right corner of the screen
  • Windows 2000 is not supported anymore

Setup SoftActivity with Symantec Endpoint Protection

June 11th, 2010

If you have Symantec Endpoint Protection installed on your company computers, it may detect a threat/risk in SoftActivity Monitor,  Agent or TS Monitor and delete it.  To avoid this you need to setup Exceptions in Symantec Endpoint. It will then ignore presence of Activity Monitor and allow monitoring of computers in your office network and will not notify users. Following steps below add these Centralized Exceptions  in Symantec Endpoint Protection:

  • Spyware.ActivMonAgent
  • Spyware.ActMon
  • Folder on monitored computers:
    C:\Windows\sysnchrb
  • Folder where SoftActivity Monitor main console and server software is installed:
    C:\Program Files\SoftActivity\Activity Monitor

In case you use Symantec in Unmanaged Clients mode, you need to add these exceptions  on each workstation where you are going to install Agent and on the workstation or server where you install Activity Monitor. If you use Managed clients mode in Symantec you need to add exceptions only once in Endpoint Protections Manager on the server. This is preferred mode and makes adding exceptions to all client computers much easier.

You need to add exceptions on computers where you are planning to install Activity Monitor and Agent before the installation. If you add exclusions after installation, you may need to reinstall Activity Monitor again, as it could be already damaged by the antivirus. If Symantec detects a risk in Activity Monitor/Agent files it will ask user to choose an action. In this case you can right click it and click Exclude.

1. Open Symantec Endpoint Protection. Click Change Settings tab, then click Configure Settings button next to Centralized Exceptions:

Symantec Endpoint Protection settings window

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Setup Activity Monitor with Norton 360

June 11th, 2010

If you have Norton 360 installed, it may detect and delete Activity Monitor and Agent. To avoid this you need to setup exclusions in Norton 360. It will then ignore presence of Activity Monitor and allow monitoring of computers in your office network. Following steps below add these Signature Exclusions in Antivirus Settings in Norton 360:

  • Spyware.ActMon
  • Spyware.ActivMonAgent

You need to do it on computers where you are planning to install Activity Monitor and Agent before the installation. If you add exclusions after installation, you may need to reinstall Activity Monitor again, as it could be already damaged by the antivirus.

UPDATE (Sept 2012): Since version 7.0 of Activity Monitor exclude this folder on monitored computers: C:\Windows\sysnchrb

You may also need to create a Firewall Rule for Activity Monitor and Agent.

Antivirus exclusions for Activity Monitor and Agent in Norton 360

1.Open Norton 360 main window. Click Settings:

Norton 360 main window. Click Settings

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