Is Using Remote Access Trojans (RATs) to Monitor Your Kids Acceptable?

[Batu69]

These days, parents can easily end up installing RATs instead of legitimate parental control software

Parents looking for a way to monitor their child's online activities may turn to malware known as Remote Access Trojans (RATs) due to their proliferation and low cost.

There's a difference between RATs and parental control software, which some might also call spyware. Unlike the latter, RATs don't come with blocking features.

Parental control software, while it's as intrusive as RATs and logs certain details about how a child uses his device, does provide a parent with the ability to block certain apps from the device, proving to be useful in some other way than just spying on kids.

On the other hand, RATs don't provide a similar feature. Parents looking into installing parental control software might cross the boundary from legitimate software to full-on malware due to a lack of understanding on what differentiates the two products.

It's easy to end up on a RAT's homepage these days

Parents looking at software packages like mSpy, TeenSafe, Mobile Fence, or PhoneSherrif, all legitimate parental control software, might very easily end up installing malware like Revenge, Orcus, Ozone, JBifrost (Adwind), Remcos, or Darktrack.

All of these are commercially available RATs advertised on legitimate-looking sites as remote administration tools or parental control software when they don't provide anything outside the ability to sniff on the computers they infect.

They price points between which these products are sold is the same as for commercial parental control software.

Parents should stick with known & reviewed brands only

In some cases, RATs come backdoored out of the gate by the crook distributing it, so while the parent keeps an eye on his kid, the RAT author is keeping an eye on both. Parents should always do research before buying or installing anything on their kids' devices.

There's a growing trend around the world of parents deploying apps on their kids' smartphones to monitor and block calls, SMS, and apps, just like there's a trend for kids that install apps to hide their activities from parental control software.

Parents should be very careful about the products they choose to deploy. Telling kids that they keep an eye on the way they use their devices is also recommended because parents avoid losing the child's trust and end up alienating them in the end.

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[knowledge-Spammer]

if u are the maker of the rat y not

[Holmes]

Yes its acceptable (when it goes to the law).  As long as your the only one that has access to it then yes.  There is no backdoor in dark comet rat I have used it and tested it its ok.

[pc71520]

Is Using Remote Access Trojans (RATs) to Monitor Your Kids Acceptable?

Yes, it is because it is related to the protection of your kids.

[nclr11111]

If your ok with governments and agencies snooping in your computer in a "big brother" way then i guess it´s ok for you to snoop in your childs. But if you´re against privacy invasion by anyone i´d say it would be double standards to snoop on your kids.

I´d never do it. Instead i talk alot with my kids about what they´re doing online, what to avoid, how to behave etc. Freedom with responsibility.

I mean, why should your kids trust you if you don´t trust them and how are they supposed to grow up and develop with the knowledge they´re always being watched and tracked?

Just my 5 cents.....

[SnakeMasteR]

Trust doesn't magically grow on tree's but you can work your way thru WITH your child. Snooping is selfish and a good indicator for lazy parents, the same kind of parents that let their kids rot in front of the TV instead of taking their time with them, personally.

[Holmes]

When I was growing up and was at my dad's house me and my brother shawn would want to get on the internet (this was when zoomtown required a login username and password and my dad would not give us the password well one day I had my dad log me and my brother shawn into the internet and I told my brother shawn hey he logged us in and so we can look at his cookies for the password (my dad was using windows ninety eight second edition and cookies were not encrypted yet) I went into my dad's cookies on his computer and got the password and me and my brother shawn would login and not tell my dad and if are dad asked we would say he never logged out or he logged in and forgot about it.  My point is me and my brother were kids and were snooping on my dad's internet and the nsa and all the mass surveillance hadnt happened if the whole mass surveillance shit didnt happen users like me and my brother shawn would happen anyway we didnt get the idea from the government me and my brother shawn decided to be sneaky on our own (we didnt do it because we were lazy we did it to save us time and we wanted to eliminate the middle man our dad).

 

If parents truly decide to use parental control software or a rat and the kids are under the age of eighteen parents have a right to do so and it wouldnt mean there lazy.  As for trust yes it could hurt the trust the kids have with the parents and that would be the reason I wouldnt use a rat or parental control software.  I agree that the parents should talk with the kids not snoop on them.

[DKT27]

The answer here completely depends on whom you are asking this to, a parent or a child.

 

If you ask me, a parent should impart good behavior, morals, knowledge and examples in their children and then trust them with it. But depending on the requirement, a parent should do what is right for them to do so.