Coalition Against Stalkerware: A new global task force will combine proven experience in victim support with cybersecurity, aiming to help users who have been “infected”.
Today, 10 organizations – Kaspersky, Avira, Electronic Frontier Foundation, European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence, G DATA CyberDefense, Malwarebytes, National Network to End Domestic Violence, NortonLifeLock, Operation Safe Escape and WEISSER RING – launched the global “Coalition Against Stalkerware” initiative to protect users from stalkerware.
What is monitoring software?
Surveillance software has the potential to invade a person’s privacy and can be misused by its creators as a tool for blackmail in cases of domestic violence and surveillance. By installing these applications, attackers can gain access to their victim’s messages, photos, social media, GPS, audio recordings or cameras (in some cases, this can be done in real time). Such programs run in the background, without the victim’s awareness or consent.
For several years, the problem of “stalkerware” has been on the rise, with the number of victims increasing at an alarming rate. Non-profit organizations are facing an unprecedented increase in victims seeking help for such problems. According to Kaspersky, the number of users who faced attacks by tracking software increased by 35%, from 27,798 in 2018 to 37,532 in 2019. Furthermore, the stalkerware threat landscape is constantly expanding, with Kaspersky detecting 380 stalkerware variants free on the internet in 2019 – 31% more than those detected in 2018.
The Alliance's goals
Until now, there was no agreed-upon definition of stalkerware, nor any criteria for detection, and it was particularly difficult for the security industry to communicate on the subject. Therefore, the founding members of the Alliance Against Stalkerware took an important step in combating it, starting with creating a proper definition and reaching consensus on detection criteria.
To support the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25), the Alliance has also launched the website www.stopstalkerware.org, with the aim of helping victims, facilitating knowledge transfer among members, contributing to the development of good practices for creating ethical software, and educating the public about the dangers of stalkerware.
A key goal of the website is to provide useful online resources for stalkerware victims. Users will find information on what stalkerware is, what it can do, and most importantly, how to protect themselves. The website lists common indicators to check if a user may have fallen victim to stalkerware, and what steps they should take and avoid. For example, it is important to consider whether removing the stalkerware could potentially cause more harm, as either the perpetrator would be notified immediately by the application or it could lead to the deletion of evidence that could be useful to law enforcement.
For users who may have been "infected", the Alliance Against Stalkerware suggests that they immediately contact local cyber security agencies to ensure they are safe.
“To address this issue, it is important for providers and digital defense organizations to work together. The cybersecurity industry is helping to improve the situation by providing stalkerware and better informing users about this privacy threat. Service and support organizations work directly with victims of domestic violence, are aware of their vulnerabilities and requests, and can guide our work. So, acting as a team, we will be able to help victims through technical expertise and capacity building,” said Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky, Head of Malware Research at Kaspersky.
“Research has shown that 70% of cyberstalking victims have experienced at least one form of physical and/or sexual violence from a partner. We need to stop perpetrators from using their partners’ phones to track them and hold them accountable for their violence. The Alliance Against Stalkerware enables us to transfer our knowledge of gender-based violence and perpetrators to IT security companies – so we can work together to end violence against women committed through new technologies,” said Anna McKenzie, Communications Manager, European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence (WWP EN).
“As a non-profit organization, we know that technology makes it easier for offenders to access their victims’ personal data. Victims rarely seek help because they feel embarrassed. For WEISSER RING, illegal surveillance is one of the most important issues we deal with and we see the number of victims constantly increasing. In 2018, we contributed to 1019 stalking cases, which was around 3% more than in 2017. According to German police statistics, in 2018 there were a total of almost 19,000 stalking cases, 500 more than a year ago – a clear increase, too. "We therefore developed the NO STALK together with the WEISSER RING to provide victims with an effective tool for detecting tracking software," said Horst Hinger, Deputy CEO, WEISSER RING.
The Alliance has been conceived as a non-commercial initiative, aiming to unite stakeholders from NGOs, industry and other sectors such as law enforcement under the same umbrella. Due to its high social relevance for users around the world, with new stalkerware variants being developed on a regular basis, the Alliance Against Stalkerware is open to new partners and calls for collaboration.
More information about the state of Stalkerware in 2019 can be found in the report (PDF) provided by Kaspersky and supported by the Alliance Against Stalkerware.
