HUNDREDS of thousands of Americans are victims of an extreme cyber invasion, where data and personal details are stolen.
Fueling this crime is a network of spy apps that track and monitor people around the world.
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Burglars often do this to make money. Cybercriminals often have different motivations.
In an article titled A Comparative Study of the Difference Between Conventional Crime and Cybercrime, tech experts note that some people hack aimlessly – they open locked doors in an act of exploration or as a gesture to show that they are smarter than government security technicians.
Others may have more sinister motives.
Stalkerware is a universal term for apps that secretly monitor a device’s activities.
Stalkerware apps can track keystrokes, track device location, screen-record every user movement, or even access the device’s camera in real time.
And there is little to alert the user that their device has been compromised by malware.
Stalkerware does not require advanced hacking – it can be installed by anyone with access to the device.
It may be disguised as a calculator app, as was the case for a New York Times reporter who researched and reported the existence of the stalkerware app Flash Keylogger in the Google Play store.
“It looked like a calculator app. But it was actually spyware logging my every keystroke — the kind of data that would give a stalker unfettered access to my privacy,” Brian X. Chen wrote in September 2021.
Once installed, the watcher can receive information caches via email or even have access to a real-time usage dashboard.
And due to stalkerware’s ability to spy on unsuspecting victims, it has become a tool for domestic violence or spousal abuse.
PCMagazine cited a study of 2,000 participants where 10% “admitted to using an app to monitor text messages, phone calls and other communications from an ex or current partner.
In 2014, a woman was stalked, threatened and abused by a boyfriend who installed a spyware app that gave her access to his phone’s microphone.
WomensLaw cites non-consensual surveillance as a major red flag in relationships.
A TechCrunch investigation found a network of stalkerware apps all developed by Vietnamese company 1Byte.
Through a series of front companies, 1Byte was able to back at least nine stalkerware apps that violated the privacy of approximately 400,000 people worldwide.
Meanwhile, journalists and advocacy groups have worked to publicize stalkerware detection strategies and pressure private companies to remove stalkerware apps from the online marketplace.
Action against stalkerware has largely been taken by the Federal Trade Commission, an agency whose mission is to protect the American consumer.
The FTC has singled out companies and barred them from “offering, promoting, selling, or advertising any surveillance application, service, or business,” but sweeping legislative action has yet to be taken. the gerontocratic government of the United States.
Cybersecurity experts and activists Gennie Gebhart and Eva Galperin argued for the Electronic Frontier Foundation that “there are simply no legitimate purposes for covert stalking apps.”
Depending on the type of device, prevention and elimination techniques vary. It should be noted that the person or company that installed the spyware first will likely be notified that the spyware has been removed.
Android is more susceptible to stalkerware due to relatively lax accessibility restrictions.
Zach Whittaker, TechCrunch’s security editor, advises Android users to manage their Google Play Protect settings and scan their device’s accessibility section for fake apps or suspicious installs.
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