SpyTech is a veteran of the computer monitoring industry. Established in 1998, their products have been silently recording the activity of PC users for over a decade.

That heritage comes shining through in SpyTech's flagship product, SpyAgent. The software is very polished and user friendly. While other titles in the category can have the feel of utility software, SpyAgent has a beautiful interface that anyone will be able to use.

So how does SpyAgent stack up against our buyers guide criteria?

Type of activities recorded
SpyAgent ticks all of the boxes here and will monitor all PC activity. The software will record all keystrokes, passwords, website visits, web searches, opened programs, watched videos, email activity, forum and social network activity - everything. The activity is recorded as logs, screenshots and screen playbacks. You can also set up triggers so that monitoring will only start when certain conditions are met – for example loading Internet Explorer.

Remote monitoring
All the log files produced by SpyAgent can be accessed via an FTP account or emailed to you. FTP is preferable for advanced users or small businesses, but email will do just fine for home users.

Stealth mode
As you would expect, SpyAgent does run silently in the background. The software has a lightweight footprint however as with any program it does consume resources. Those with very old PCs with 500MB of RAM or less will notice their machine running more slowly when SpyAgent is running.

Multiple licences for business
Employees using work time to conduct personal business online is a concern to all employers. SpyTech offer multiple licence discounts for business owners wanting to keep tabs on staff interne use. For up to three PCs running in a small business SpyAgent will cost $89.95 ($20 more than the single licence version. Discounts then increase to 50+ licences.

Help and support
SpyTech provide a wide variety of ways to support the product and are responsive to support requests. Email, telephone and ticket based support is all provided.

Counter anti-spyware protection
The software will counter anti-spyware software running on the same machine. How effective this is will depend on the anti-spyware being used, but we found that it was not detected by the majority of titles currently available. You must make sure that 'Disable Spyware Detectors' is activated and that the latest Spyware Detectors Database is installed.

Memory erasers, file locks etc
There are no additional extras thrown in with SpyAgent. The developers have kept additional features to a minimum to ensure that the program is lightweight and does not consume unnecessary resources. If you need memory erasers or file locks try one of the competing titles.

SpyAgent is a best in class product that is particularly suited to the home user and small business due to its user friendly interface. It's child's play.