Android stalkerware and spyware detections increased by 48% in 2020.Not only do these apps invade users' privacy, but vendors also don't seem interested in addressing vulnerabilities found in their creations.
This week, Lukas Stefanko, a researcher at ESET , published telemetry data focused on Android stalkerware detection, revealing that the use of these dubious apps began to increase in 2019 – with a fivefold increase compared to 2018 – and this trend continued in 2020 , highlighting their continued popularity.
Read also: Stalkerware: Russia, Brazil and the US were most affected in 2020
ESET's findings are confirmed by previous research by Kaspersky, which found that stalkerware infections increased by 40% in 2019.
Stalkerware is a term coined to describe the most intrusive types of spyware used (for a fee), more by people close to home than by unknown malicious actors.
These types of software can be secretly installed on a computer or mobile phone and monitor a user's activities, in a profound breach of privacy, collecting various data, such as their GPS location (where available), call logs, contact lists, SMS, social media, browser history and more.
See also: Android spyware variants steal data from Whatsapp users
The data collected by these applications is then sent to an operator.
In the case of mobile stalkerware, the operator often needs to have physical access to “load” the malware, so users tend to be close relatives, spouses, or parents. Mobile stalkerware can also be used by businesses to monitor employees.
While many of these apps are marketed as a way to monitor children for safety reasons, their intrusive nature is generally considered to make them “unethical.” Just because something is marketed as a “safety net” for minors doesn’t mean it can’t be used to monitor a spouse – therefore, the right to privacy can be violated.
According to Stefanko, a recent analysis of stalkerware available for the Google Android mobile platform revealed that many vendors don't seem to care that the inherent – and widespread – security vulnerabilities contained in their applications put their users and customers at risk.
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An audit of 58 Android stalkerware apps, provided by 86 vendors, revealed a total of 158 security issues. These included the following: insecure transmission of sensitive data, command injection flaws, data leaks, information remaining on servers after account deletion, and exposure of source code and administrator credentials.
Not only was the victim's data "mishandled" in many cases, but the bugs also affected the security of the vendors themselves and their customers. The vulnerabilities have been reported to the vendors, but only 6 developers have patched their software, 7 have promised to fix the information that needs to be preserved, and 44 did not respond at all to ESET's findings.
Finally, Stefanko emphasized the following: “The research should serve as a warning to potential future stalkerware customers to reconsider using the software against their spouses and loved ones, as it is not only unethical, but can also lead to the disclosure of their personal and sensitive information and expose them to cyberattacks and fraud.”
Information source: zdnet.com
