detecting malicious/unwanted connections RE: [thelist] remote administration utils

[Chris W. Parker]

my original question had to do with remote administration utilities. now
i'm wondering what tools there are available that would facilitate
detecting unwanted traffic when using backdoor programs.

for example, i know my ip address is a.a.a.a and i know the computer i
am "admin'ing" is b.b.b.b, how can i find out if another computer is
attempting to connect to the server (me) or the client.

i know 'netstat -n n' (n stands for seconds between reports) will show
current connections, but is there software that will automatically
detect such connections, as opposed to having to keep an eye on the
output generated by netstat?

hopefully i've made myself clear.

thanks,
chris.