With cryptography, they're permanently screwed. While monitoring the entire Internet might pose a problem, closed systems such as corporate intranets can be watched more closely. Esniff is a Linux-based network appliance which plugs into a closed network. The program then makes copies of all traffic and stores that in the box. The data is then compared to the company's pre-defined categories like pornography, gambling or language.
People can really get around most firewalls.
The service is currently employed by the Denver Broncos, which uses the system to make sure its game plans aren't released outside of the organization. Reagan said the system works best when corporations outline exactly what behavior is unacceptable at work. But not every company has informed its employees that they are being monitored, something Reagan said is out of the hands of Esniff once the technology has been licensed out. That is the type of behavior that concerns people. Every time someone employs a technology to track workers, college students or housewives who happen to be on the Internet, the company puts itself at the risk of upsetting the public.