Email

Spector Client (Client) is configured to record email events by selecting options within the email configuration tab. The email configuration tab can be found when:

If you wish to record email on the monitored computer, select Capture Email to put a checkmark in the option box. To disable email recording, clear the checkmark from the Capture Email box.

Note: This option must be selected in order to configure other email recording options.

Some emails have file "attachments" that the Client can optionally save. For example, a user may send an Excel spreadsheet to a friend, and this spreadsheet would be sent as a file attachment. By default, the Client does NOT record file attachments in email.

The Client will record email attachments for emails sent and received using SMTP/POP or Microsoft Exchange. The Client will NOT record email attachments sent and received using any Web mail interfaces such as Hotmail or Yahoo.

Email attachments are generally much larger than normal messages. Therefore, if many attachments are sent or received, the Client may require a larger amount of storage space to save the attachments. If the Data Vault is being used, this is generally not a concern, as the email and its attachment will be uploaded to the Data Vault and then deleted from the computer. By default, the Client is configured to provide ten MB of storage space for email on the computer. If the Client will be recording large file attachments that will exceed the 10MB storage limit, you will need to modify the Maximum Data Size setting in order to increase the space for local email storage.

The Client can record email sent and received using the industry standard SMTP and POP protocols. The majority of the email sent and received on the Internet is done using SMTP/POP, but it will only be recorded by the Client if it is sent directly from the computer using SMTP or received by the computer using POP. Popular Windows programs that send and receive email directly from the computer using the SMTP/POP protocols include Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, and Eudora.

By default, the SMTP email is recorded from the IP port 25 and POP email is recorded from the IP port 109 and 110. If you would like the Client to monitor other IP ports for SMTP/POP email, these settings can be changed within the Security>Advanced tab.

To enable this feature, select SMTP/POP email to put a checkmark in the option box.

When reviewing recorded email with the Spector Viewer, any email recorded from an application that sent the message using SMTP will appear with the email Type column as SMTP and any email recorded from an application that received the email using POP will appear with the email Type column as POP.

The Client is able to record AOL email sent and received using the proprietary AOL Internet interface. This includes AOL versions 5.0 through 9.0, AOL German, and AOL Mexico. The Client can only record AOL email if the user logs into AOL and opens the email or composes the email. If the email is listed in AOL, but is not opened by the user, it will not be recorded.

To enable the capture of AOL email, select the SMTP/POP email to put a checkmark in the option box.

The Client can also record AOL email that is sent and received through the Web email interface at www.aol.com. Capture of AOL email accessed through the Web site at www.aol.com is supported as part of the Client's ability to capture email from the most popular Web email sites.

Note: The Client is unable to record email file attachments sent or received with AOL.

The Client is able to record email sent and received using many of the popular Internet Web sites providing email services including Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL. This is accomplished by monitoring the Internet connection and watching for the signature of specific Web mail sites. Since the Client relies on a signature for a particular Internet email Web site, it is only able to support the recording of the most popular email Web sites (Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL). For a full list of all Internet email Web sites recorded, click here.

When the Client records a Web email, it is recorded when the email is composed or when it is opened. For this reason, an email could be received into the Web email account of the user, but it would NOT be recorded unless the user actually opened the email to be read.

Note: The Client does NOT support the recording of email file attachments sent or received through Web email.

The Client can record email sent and received using Microsoft's business messaging software, MS Exchange. MS Exchange is a client-server based messaging system. The client computer is running MS Outlook to exchange messages with the MS Exchange server. Microsoft has implemented a messaging API (MAPI) on the computers, which allows the Client to record email being sent and received from the MS Exchange server. The Client can only record the email being sent and received on an MS Exchange account that the user has logged into on the computer.

When a new email arrives in the user's Inbox, the Client will record it as a received email. When an email is placed in the user's Outbox, the Client will record it as a sent email.

Note: An Exchange email could be recorded as sent by the Client, but it is possible that it was removed from the Outbox before it was sent or it continues to reside in the Outbox and it may still need to be sent.

The Client will record (as being received) any email in the user's Inbox that is marked as "not read" and has not already been recorded by the Client. This allows for the recording of email (that has been received by the user's Exchange Inbox when the user is not logged into Exchange) the next time the user logs into Exchange.

The Client can only record MS Exchange email when the client computer is using Outlook 2000 or Outlook XP. Earlier versions of Outlook are not supported. This limitation does not apply if Outlook is being used to send and receive POP/SMTP email only.

Note: When MS Outlook is first opened, the Client must synchronize itself with the user's Inbox in order to determine any new messages that have been received. If the user has a very large number of messages in their Inbox, there could be a delay in opening MS Outlook.

When email and email file attachments are recorded by the Client on the computer, they are stored in a data file that resides in the Data File Folder. If the Client is configured to upload recorded events to the Data Vault, this information will be frequently moved from the Email Data File into the Data Vault.

If the Client is configured to keep the recorded events on the computer, or the Data Vault is unavailable for uploading of events, then the size of the email data file is a consideration. The size of the email data file cannot be left unchecked, as it would eventually consume a large amount of storage space on the computer. The following settings allow for the limitation of the amount of storage space required for recorded email events.

Select the number of days that the Client should keep recorded email events on the computer. If email has been recorded before this number of days, then the email events will be deleted. For example, if this setting is for ten days and today is August 11, the Client would keep all email recorded on August 1 and later. This setting is not a concern if the Client is configured to move data to the Data Vault. They would be moved frequently and would not reside for ten days on the computer.

Select the maximum number of megabytes to which the email data file should grow. When the email data file has reached the configured size, the oldest email will be removed to allow for the recording of newer email and keep the email data file under the maximum configured size. This setting should not be a concern if the Client is configured to upload recorded events to the Data Vault, unless the Client sends or receives a very large number of emails or email file attachments in a short period of time.

Select the maximum size email attachment file the Client should record. Any email file attachments larger than this configured size will NOT be recorded by the Client. Email attachments can be very large files and so the recording of very large files could quickly exceed the Maximum Email Data File size.

Note: Set this setting to 1000 in order to allow a file attachment size of 1 megabyte.

This setting only limits the file attachments that are recorded; the email data file is still limited to the Maximum Data Size as configured above.

Note: If the above maximum limitations are reached when recording email events on the local computer, it is possible that email events could be discarded and lost. This is not a concern for Client installations that upload their recorded events to a Data Vault, unless the Data Vault is unavailable for an extended period.