CANIBEMONITORED WITHOUTSTA LKERWARE?FlexiSpyis apopularstalkerwareapp
usedtomonitorvictims’activities arlierthis year,AvastfoundeightAndroid
stalkerwareappsintheGooglePlaystore
KasperskyhasaPrivacy
Alert toolinits Android
appthatdetects
stalkerwareDiscussstalkerwareat http://www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 27 Nov-10Dec 2019^39Stalkerwareworkplaceequipment.Some,however,
go further andsuggestusing their apps
tocatchacheatingpartner.Itgoes
withoutsaying thatall such usesareon
shakymoral ground.
Howarepeopledownloading
these apps?
Believeit ornot, Googleand Applewere
both found tohaveinadvertently
distributedstalkerwareinthe past,
via the PlayStoreand theApp Store.
Stalkerwareisalso purchasableonthe
weband includesthe likes of Xnore,
mSpy,TheTruthSpyandFlexiSpy,which
has been widelycriticised for allowing
the monitoringof“everything that
happensonaPCor Mac”.
Whatactionis beingtaken?
In October,thecreatorofastalkerware
app called PhoneSheriff was ordered to
destroyuser databythe USFederal
Trade Commission andtold toensureits
apps could only be used in legitimate
situations.Also,backin July,thesecurity
companyAvastbroughteight Android
stalkerwareapps toGoogle’sattention
and the internetgiant promptly removed
them from the Playstore.Sevenwere
from adeveloper basedin Russia: Spy
Kids Tracker,PhoneCell Tracker,Mobile
Tracking,SpyTracker,SMS Tracker,
EmployeeWork Spyandthecatchily
namedTrack Employees CheckWork
PhoneOnlin eSpyFree.Allmanaged to
get pastGoogle’sreviewteam, whichis
supposed toensurethatapps meet its
privacystandards. It’slikely thatthereare
moresuchapps outthere.Howbig anissueisthis?
According toAvast,the eight appspulled
from Android weredownloaded 1 40 ,0 00
times. SpyTrackerand SMSTracker were
the mostpopular,withmorethan 50,0 00
installs.Kasperskyclaimstohave
detected the presenceofstalkerware,
or attempts toinstall it,on 518,223
occasionsoverthe firsteightmonths of
this year,affecting37, 53 2users–arise of
35 %onthe previous year when 27, 798
users weretargeted.
However,the merefact that
stalkerwareexists makes itabig issue
regardlessofnumbers.Notonly doesit
makethevicti mvulnerable tocontrol,
manipulation and ‘gaslighting’, but it
breaks trust,breachesprivacyandis
often carried out withinanenvironment
of domesticviolence.Is Androidatgreaterrisk than
iOS?
It would appear thatAndroid devices arecurrently
seeing a
growing
number of
stalkerware
detections, at
leastaccording
toKaspersky,
whichadded
aPrivacyAlert
toits security
app for
Android (bit.ly/
kaspersky489)
backinApril.
Atthattime,
therewere
7, 075
detections
on Android,
ris ing to9,251
in August.
Because
Appleis more
stringentinits
reviewprocess, stalkerwareisn’tas
easilyfound onthe iOSAppStore,
which meanstheoperatingsystem
will generallyneed tobe‘jailbroken’
toinstall stalkerware.HowcanIprotect myself?
Theeasiestwayis toprevent anyone
from installingstalkerwareinthe first
place,bykeepingyour phone,tabletor
computer with you atall times. Since
stalkerwaremustbemanually installed,
thiswould certainly stopanyone from
gaining physical accesstoyour device.
However,inreality,thismaynotbe
practical,particularly ifyou’relivingwith
the personwho is hellbentonputting
youunder surveillance.In such
circumstances, ensureyourdeviceis
locked usingapasscode thatonly you
know.Experts warn againstusing
fingerprintor facialrecognitiontogain
accesstoadeviceincase someone
pointsitatyour face or grabsyour
thumb whileyou’reasleep.
It’s wisetoperform regularsecurity
scans andremove anysign sof
stalkerware. Your devicecould also
be factoryreset to remove alltraces
of the problem.Would the lawbeable to help
me?
If youfindsomeonehas putyouunder
sur veillanceusing stalkerwar e, then a
prosecution can bebrought under the
Protection from HarassmentAct1997.
Youcan also seek advice from Paladin:
NationalStalkingAdvocacyService
(paladinservice.co.uk), which hasaphone
line open from 9amto 3pmweekda ys
(10amto 5pm onWednesdays).Stalkers don’t necessarily havetoturntostalkerware
inordertoplaceyou under surveillance. Theycould
secretly activateShareMyLocation withinthe Find
Myapp onyour iPhone,iPadorMac(turnitoff by
opening the app,tapping Me andtogglingShareMy
Location), or the similar Find My Devicetrackerfor
Android.Theycould also useyour fitnessappsor
checkforyour whereabouts in social-mediastatus
updates, so do bewary anddelveintothe settings
if you’reworried.
Even Google Maps canbecome an enemyby
divulgingyour positiontoothers.Ifthisoptionhas
been set up,you canstop itbylaunching the app,
selectingthe menu icon, tappingLocationSharing,
choosingacontact and deactivating ShareYour
Location.