Everyone involved in technology will have noticed, at some point, advertisements that present ways to monitor mobile phones. In Greece, there are at least 2 websites that offer the know-how and software to monitor any mobile phone you want.
Yes, it is not only the National Security Agency (NSA) that spies on smartphones. Many use sophisticated monitoring software to access the communications of their lovers, their children or even their rivals.
According to a new study, hundreds of people had some form of surveillance software installed on their phones.
These apps are not malicious apps downloaded from a specially crafted website designed to trick their owners. They are spyware that anyone with physical access to the device can install. This allows them to access every text message, phone call, and in some cases, monitor calls in real time.
Most of the installations were likely carried out by spouses and private investigators, according to Michael Shaulov, CEO of San Francisco-based Lacoon Mobile Security. Although the number of phones with spyware was relatively small, Shaulov expects the number to grow.
Lacoon, which conducted the research, was founded in 2011 by former members of the Israel Defense Forces. During the research, Lacoon monitored wireless traffic to determine how many devices were communicating with servers known to be associated with spyware.
Nearly half of them were linked to SpyToMobile, which markets the tracking app. While it's generally not illegal to spy on phones that are your own, things get a bit murky when the spying is on phones that are under the same network, like your partner's, say.
The company's terms of service state that users must own the phones using the software, or that users of the app must have written permission from the phone's owner. SpyToMobile told Mashable that all users must agree to the terms of service and that it has suspended accounts after they were found using the app without the owner's permission.
