spyware on the mac

[ilw-00]

I got this e-mail from my son: Any suggestions?
do you know (or can you ask your message board) whether spyware exists
on the macintosh?  I've recently gotten worried about it, but have been
unable to find a spyware blocker that works on the mac.
Thank you.  ilw-00

[kelly]

I think it exists to a very small degree.

But not anything like on PCs where it's a rampant problem.

Personally I woudn't worry about it.

Found this. But I wouldn't bother.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10267

[pendragon]

If one wishes to monitor another, and has access to the target’s computer…

MonitorerX Pro records everything each user writes with the keyboard and saves it. This way you can always check what each user was doing (writing) on the computer. Additionally, MonitorerX Pro takes screenshots on user defined intervals so you can view what the users were doing! MonitorerX Pro is running completely in the background, it is invisible in the Finder, Dock, ForceQuit menu and Login Items menu.

http://www.red-byte.com/monitorerxpro.html

Should you wish to know if you are being monitored, then in that case…

MacScan is designed to detect, and remove spyware, keystroke loggers, Trojans, and bring awareness to remote administration type applications which could have been maliciously or inadvertently installed on your Macintosh. It Detects, Isolates & Removes:
-Spyware
-Keystroke Loggers
-Trojan Horses
-Administration Applications

http://macscan.securemac.com/

No doubt a search of VersionTracker would yield other similar programs.

FWIW, I have no experience with either of these programs.

HTH

Harv