Monitoring Software

Definition - What does Monitoring Software mean?

Monitoring software observes and tracks the operations and activities of users, applications and network services on a computer or enterprise systems. This type of software provides a way to supervise the overall processes that are performed on a computing system, and provides reporting services to the system or network administrator.

Monitoring software is also known as computer surveillance software.

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Techopedia explains Monitoring Software

Monitoring software is primarily a type of security and surveillance software installed on an individual system or the corporate network. It can be a standalone application, or function as part of firewall software or hardware, anti-virus software, or an information security software suite. Generally, monitoring software records and logs all incoming/outgoing network traffic, user processes and interactions, and application activities. It includes specific rules, signatures, events and preferences, which describe normal and abnormal system states and activities. It also alerts the administrator if it identifies any violation or breach that results in abnormal system behavior, user activity or network flow. Moreover, such software is also used for spying on employees or users' activities within a corporate network.

Parental control is a type of monitoring software that blocks specific user activities and issues a notification to parents/administrators in case of any violations or breaches.