Stalkerware

Many information security experts and journalists^[who?] apply the term stalkerware to any software (malicious programs and legitimate commercial monitoring products) that can be used or potentially be used for stalking.^[5][6][7] The following features of stalkerware are distinguished:

• powerful surveillance functions (key logging, making screenshots, monitoring of Internet activity, recording of location, recording video and audio);
• ability to work in stealth mode (the user is not notified about being monitored);
• the application is not visible in the list of installed programs;
• the running application is disguised as system processes or utility programs);
• correct installation and/or operation of the application requires disabling anti-viruses or the built-in protection in the OS;
• in case of mobile applications, the app is usually installed from resources other than official app stores, although there have been cases of stalkerware in app stores;^[5]
• the software manufacturer positions its product as a means of tracking an intimate partner or a tool for parental monitoring, while, in fact, anybody can use it to access another person's phone, determine their GPS location, read private messages, see through cameras and hear microphones.^[8]

According to a 2014 survey by NPR, 75% of domestic abuse shelters surveyed reported that they were working with individuals who had been tracked by their abusers via stalkerware.^[9] The rising popularity of stalkerware led to an arms race between apps which helped users protect their privacy, and apps designed to circumvent those safeguards.^[10]

Throughout its history, companies which develop stalkerware have been subject to numerous hacks and data breaches, many by hacktivists in protest of stalkerware's unethical applications.^[11] Companies including MSpy,^[12] Flexispy,^[13] and KidGuard have been targets of breaches.^[14]

In 2018, computer security specialist and activist Eva Galperin created a project to eradicate stalkerware.^[15] Galperin has advocated for stalkerware to be seen as malware, and for phone and software companies to take steps to safeguard against the use of such programs.^[7]

In 2020, Kaspersky Lab released a report on the state of stalkerware. Among its findings were that the United States, Russia and Brazil were the three countries most affected.^[11]

Stalkerware has been criticized for its use by abusers to control and monitor their victims. The European Institute for Gender Equality released a report on stalkerware and cyberstalking's connection to domestic violence.^[16][17] Guides on how to detect and disable stalkerware have been published by sites including Mashable,^[18] Wired,^[19] and CNET.^[20]

The news organization Vice publishes "When Spies Come Home", an investigative series about the use of stalkerware, and various controversies surrounding the industry.^[21]

• Cyberstalking
• Pegasus (spyware)