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CEO of Spyware Maker Arrested For Enabling Stalkers
An anonymous reader writes: U.S. authorities have arrested and indicted the CEO of a mobile software company for selling spyware that enables "stalkers and domestic abusers." The U.S. Department of Justice accuses the man of promoting and selling software that can "monitor calls, texts, videos and other communications on mobile phones without detection." The agency pointed out this is the first criminal case based on mobile spyware, and promised to aggressively pursue makers of similar software in the future. Here's the legal filing (PDF). The FBI, with approval from a District Court, has disabled the website hosting the software.
"The indictment alleges that StealthGenie's capabilities included the following: it recorded all incoming/outgoing voice calls; it intercepted calls on the phone to be monitored while they take place; it allowed the purchaser to call the phone and activate it at any time to monitor all surrounding conversations within a 15-foot radius; and it allowed the purchaser to monitor the user's incoming and outgoing e-mail messages and SMS messages, incoming voicemail messages, address book, calendar, photographs, and videos. All of these functions were enabled without the knowledge of the user of the phone."
"The indictment alleges that StealthGenie's capabilities included the following: it recorded all incoming/outgoing voice calls; it intercepted calls on the phone to be monitored while they take place; it allowed the purchaser to call the phone and activate it at any time to monitor all surrounding conversations within a 15-foot radius; and it allowed the purchaser to monitor the user's incoming and outgoing e-mail messages and SMS messages, incoming voicemail messages, address book, calendar, photographs, and videos. All of these functions were enabled without the knowledge of the user of the phone."
There's an NSA joke in there somewhere...
Double standards... gotta love'em
It's not an arrest for enabling stalking. It's an arrest for enabling *unapproved* stalking.
...is there a link to this useful software?
I'd love to be able to do all those things on my phone.
I already record all of my calls.
Can't we find something better of DoJ to do. Start with bankers please.
I'm not sure about this legally. The software does not infect devices, nor does it get installed through deception. It is purchased and installed by someone who has access to the device. The person who installed the software without the owner's permission (assuming that person doesn't own the phone in the first place) would be responsible for any illegal actions. An analogy is trying to bring a lawsuit against a company that produces baby monitors, because someone put a baby monitor in someone else's home without permission or notification in order to stalk them. There are legitimate uses for the software, for example a parent wanting to monitor their minor child's use of the phone. Or I might would put it on my own phone in case my phone is stolen or lost.
Better known as 318230.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/allte...
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
You could argue that there are several legitmate uses for the software. IE Parents monitoring their children. Law Enforcement using the tools. Companies monitoring phones supplied to employees.
How is this software marketed? Is it strictly to stalkers? I kind of doubt it. It's just a technology that can be used for nefarious purposes.
You could just as easily argue that the government enables stalkers due their creation of roads and sidewalks that allow stalkers to follow their victims more easily. It is hard to see how they FBI can prove their case.
While I have never used the software mentioned... It does sound like I would use something like it eventually. I would install that on my kids systems when they get old enough that I allow them to use them unattended in a heartbeat for monitoring. All cellphones usually have an audio recorder. Should all phone makers also be arrested for selling devices that can record conversations without notification to others that they are being recorded? There should already be laws that can apply to be people for using devices like this illegally. They should be the target... not software that still has useful purposes. Should we arrest hammer makers, knife makers, email software developers, because their software can and is used for nefarious purposes?
GM warns Chevrolet Corvette spy feature may break law
Clearly, these people do not have teenage daughters.
And they gained another tool! Win-win!
This is child's play compared to what the NSA has; in no way shape or form does this present "competition." A typical NSAer would say something along the lines of "Does it even have a 0day?" This tool implies you have to have some form of access to the device, or you have to fool the user into installing it, or you have to have your own exploit.
They've already gone towards gun manufacturers, scientists, and engineers?
Wouldn't this be copyright infringement?
This is CIA / DHS / GCSB IP, no.
What kind of idiot would approve of someone stalking them?
Men shall be punished, for existing!
No idiot they are punished for stalking.
Let me fix that for you:
No, idiots are punished for stalking.
People of both sexes lose it and stalk their bosses, their co-workers, family members, classmates and teachers, the clerk working at the local store ... makes no difference what gender or sex the stalker or stalkee are - the stalker is an idiot. Anyone who buys this crap is an idiot. And no, being a "helicopter parent" isn't an exception.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
That'd be the American public you're asking about.
When congress decided to shove the PATRIOT act up everyone's colon, lubricated only by a healthy dose of TSA, all the American public did was enquire how far they should bend over. They're still bent over. The majority likes it that way. Because fear. Unreasonable, agit-prop and ignorance based fear.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
My first thought was "but... the children!?" ... I would think that the primary marketing for such software would be for parents. Not that I condone such actions, at the very least it would be socially acceptable.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
Why don't you think of the children.
Seriously, this should have been marketed as a way to keep tabs on your precious little gem. There are already products out there that do similar functionality like nanny cams, locator watches and so on.
What kind of idiot would approve of someone stalking them?
Voters.
I bet the NSA has had this, and more than this, for many years, and will only see to it that this fellow is stomped into mush.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Not until his company hires at least 3 relatives of cabinet members or former congressmen.
Firstly, reliance on anecdotal evidence alone is succumbing to a logical fallacy. Secondly, demonstrate that these women somehow get a "blanket pass" or even your anecdotal evidence holds no weight.
Next? Where have you been?
any by existing you mean "playing NSA at home for fun and profit".
some feminists can be asshats, but sweet shit. Even if you don't like them, at least admit they are right on this one.
Personally, I think this software should remain legal, just so everyone knows what a secret wiretap of your phone is capable of, and why its really really really bad, and an inviation for abuse.
No one is saying that. We are saying that there is commericial software that is basicly an invitation for abuse, that for a couple bucks lets anyone play NSA, law enforcement at their most depraved and stalk, harrass and intimidate people by hi-jacking their devices.
somehow its about feminism. are you fucking daft?
it's important to note - for iphones, the app only works if the phone is jailbroken and if you have physical possession of the device and if you have the device/icloud password. also there's no jailbreak currently available for iOS 8, and considering that iOS 8 is on over half of iOS devices, you'll quite easily be SOL.
also worth noting that not only this tool but all of the NSA type tools we've learned about require the iOS to be jailbroken first. A good argument for not jailbreaking in my book.
Moral of this story if your going to sell apps intended for nefarious purposes you should advertise only "legitimate" and not illegal uses of said app and demonstrate a legitimate convincing use case.
In the real world it is hard to understand how this translates into good policy or in any way works to improve society.
You can arrest the low hanging fruit of loud mouths yet doing so will cause remaining sellers of functionally equivalent software now and in the future to change descriptions to avoid arrest and buyers to moderate keywords they use to locate desired software.
Nothing is actually changed and being arrested for technicalities does not "send a message" it is an exercise in futility and waste of taxpayer resources.
Check your local laws first - in several states it's illegal to record a conversation unless you inform everyone first. And if you're going to be informing them... well that alone might do the trick to get them dealing with you more honestly, no actual recording necessary.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
A parent might be able to better protect a child with this kind of software. And it might also catch a lot of criminals as well. To me if the end user misuses the product it is all on the end user and not on the company that sold the software. It is like selling a pistol. Thank God we can own a good pistol. It is up to the buyer to use than pistol legally . Whiskey is another similar item. We can't blame the distillers if people drink irresponsibly. So why this special attitude in regard to software?
On my Android, I already use Automatic Call Recorder Pro. Records all calls, or can whitelist/blacklist contacts if you just want to record unsolicited calls. Uploads semi-automatically to a number of back-end cloud services.
https://play.google.com/store/...
There seem to be numerous automatic sound recorders that trigger on sound level. A few searches of the play store turn up dozens, some with good reviews. [And the ones with mixed reviews seem to be device specific errors...]
the NSA obviously. Just about half the people on the "terrorist" watch list who have no known links to terrorism. Or any "terrorists" who've been enganging in non-violent terrorist behavior, take notice.
But that spyware is classified officially, and still legal. I guess big brother doesn't like competition.
No one is saying that. We are saying that there is commericial software that is basicly an invitation for abuse, that for a couple bucks lets anyone play NSA, law enforcement at their most depraved and stalk, harrass and intimidate people by hi-jacking their devices. somehow its about feminism. are you fucking daft?
Next we should go after Apple and Microsoft. It's well established that 98.28% of all electronic stalkers, harassers, and domestic abusers used either Windows or osx to do it.
What the fuck is wrong with the world that the seller of a tool can be arrested because some customer chooses to use it for nefarious purposes. I sure hope people don't start using cars to commit crimes because I like having a car. Oh wait...
There is something offensive about saying these kinds of activities are perfectly fine for representatives of the State, yet illegal for the citizens of the State.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
...I know, old and tired argument, but when are they going to start arresting automakers for causing traffic fatalities?
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
Obama said he'd put a stop to this. I'm sure he'll get around to it pretty soon....
right?
Is the company Apple?
By this same logic shouldn't we be arresting the CEO of baseball bat companies because someone could use one to assault someone, not to mention say gun manufacturers, knife companies etc...
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Intent matters in the law. There are things that can be legal or illegal depending on the intent behind it. This can apply to tools as well as actions. If you sell a tool for legitimate uses, you are generally fine even if the tool has some illegitimate uses too. So long as your actions, as in marketing and such, show that you intend it for legit uses, you are fine.
A good example would be all the fine burglary tools for sale at Home Depot. A large number of the tools they sell would work very well for breaking in to houses or cars. However it is very clear that isn't why they sell them, nor why 99.99% of their customers buy them. Not only do the tools have a substantial legitimate use, but that it what all their marketing is about. They don't try to convince you that you need a hammer drill because you could drill open most locks, they try to convince you that you need a hammer drill because you want to put up shelves in concrete or the like. They intend their tools to be used for legitimate activities.
The more shady the product, the more careful you'd better be about how you sell it because the easier it could show intent to have it used for criminal purposes. If it looks like you are just paying lip service to legit uses but really trying to sell your stuff for illegal uses, you are likely to get in trouble.
If you set foot in a country, they can arrest you for violating their laws. Doesn't matter if you aren't a citizen and live overseas. If you come there, they can arrest you. So let's say you regularly trash Islam and the Ayatollah and are well known for this. Then you travel to Iran. They very well can arrest you for that. They can't do much if you don't go there but if you show up, they can grab you.
Now in terms of if this particular arrest is legit for the American legal system, almost certainly. Doesn't matter that he was living in a foreign country. If he sold something that is illegal to Americans and using American services, he broke American law. Doesn't matter if he wasn't in America at the time, you don't have to be in a country to break their law. Let me give you a couple examples of how one can easily break a country's law from another country:
1) Ordering someone murdered. Let's say you have yourself a little gang with members in a few countries. You don't like someone over in Sweden so you order one of your Swedish members to murder them. That person broke Swedish law, but so did you. Doesn't matter you weren't there, you orchestrated a murder, that's illegal, and if they can get their hands on you you'll stand trial for it (the US would happily extradite you for that).
2) You set up a gun smuggling business for Canadians. You go and buy guns that are legal in the US, but illegal in Canada. You have them smuggled up and warehoused there, and then sell them to Canadians. You've broken Canadian law. Even if you are operating everything out of the US, what you are doing isn't legal in Canada and that's where it is being done. You house the guns in Canada and sell them to Canadians, that makes it a Canadian issue (you'd get extradited for that too).
So if this dude is selling his shit from AWS, to Americans, the courts will have no problems with the claim that American law applies.
One wonder why this guy would travel to America if he knew he could get arrested for his business. Only thing I can think of was that he actually didn't know it was illegal. Relevant law: Title 18,United States Code, Section 2512(l)(b) (sale of an interception device).
Read the article. This software was "expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers". Apple and Microsoft have not expressly designed anything for those purposes.
But apparently it's not OK to sell software to allow people to use their perfectly ordinary cellphone to pick up other conversations from its vicinity.
How about securing the transmissions of cellphones instead of prosecuting someone for doing the obvious?
those government knuckleheads have about as much sense as the three stooges!!!
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Next we should go after Apple and Microsoft. It's well established that 98.28% of all electronic stalkers, harassers, and domestic abusers used either Windows or osx to do it.
What the fuck is wrong with the world that the seller of a tool can be arrested because some customer chooses to use it for nefarious purposes. I sure hope people don't start using cars to commit crimes because I like having a car. Oh wait...
I can't imagine how your post could get insightful. I guess, so many people do not read TFA but rather throw in their opinion.
Your analogy fails. Now let me give you another one. Let say someone is selling bombs (not kits or tools, but ready-to-use bomb). Do you think it is wrong to arrest the person because his/her customer chooses to use it for nefarious purposes? My example is a bit extreme but you should get the picture why this software, which could do harm more than good, would get you arrested.
If I remember correctly, a similar app was offered in a show "Shark Tank" called "Cate apps" or something similar. The apps has very similar functionality in the sense that it can intercept the incoming message or phone call on your own phone, so that others but you would not see. They gave a new name as "Cheater" apps. However, this app goes even further than that. It can intercept both incoming and outgoing (see quote below) many things: Call Recording, Call Interception, Recorded Surroundings, Electronic Mail, SMS, Voicemail, Contacts, Photos, Videos, Appointments. Once the phone has been installed with the app, you can monitor all of those without having the phone!
The app was designed with numerous functionalities that permitted it to intercept a variety of both outgoing and incoming wire and electronic transmissions to and from the smartphone on which it was installed.
I understand that many people (including myself) want "freedom," but the real "freedom" does not come with privacy and/or security. Unless you live alone in the middle of no where and completely no interaction with others in anyway, you have to pick the scale between freedom and privacy/security.
He should have known that 'monitoring calls, texts, videos and other communications on mobile phones without detection' is a privilege reserved to government agencies.
I voted third party, it clearly doesn't matter whether you vote R or D, they're still stripping our freedoms, increasing taxes and sending us off to war. At that point there's no harm in sending my vote to a third party.
What the fuck is wrong with the world that the seller of a tool can be arrested because some customer chooses to use it for nefarious purposes. I sure hope people don't start using cars to commit crimes because I like having a car.
If ever a time comes when cars are designed specifically to be ideal tools for killing, raping, stealing, assaulting, extorting, kidnapping, committing fraud, and/or burglarizing, you can bet your ass that they will be banned, and the few people who use them for travel and not anything illegal will be SOL, as it should be. However, as long as committing a crime is a niche use of cars, you don't have anything to worry about.
weinersmith
Don't blame me. I voted Kodos.
It might have other uses, but it sounds like software for use by responsible parents monitoring their 11 year old that they just gave a phone too.
The parents not only have the right, but some might say the duty, to monitor such underage phone users at all those levels.
I think they expressly designed their hardware and software to auto-sodomize you.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
No logical fallacy if I am making statement from personal experience about female stalking those I know; you could argue whether it is a lie or true.
The "blanket pass" is tendency I observe in US culture.
I understand that many people (including myself) want "freedom," but the real "freedom" does not come with privacy and/or security. Unless you live alone in the middle of no where and completely no interaction with others in anyway, you have to pick the scale between freedom and privacy/security.
This comment is so wrong in so many ways. True freedom includes all the privacy and security the citizen desires for himself, his family, and his community. Freedom and security are not opposite sides of a coin, they harmonize and reinforce the other.
There's a fundamental untruth being propagated by the U.S. government (by the left and right equally), that personal security can only be achieved by the gov't, and freedom and privacy of the citizens are the cost of that security. This is not only a lie, but also an abuse of power over the U.S. citizen. However, there are enough voters that have decided to believe this, and it is costing each and every person of this country their constitutionally guaranteed liberties.
How can you be free, if you don't have security? How can you be secure, if you aren't granted freedom (the definition of liberty)? Were the slaves of 18th and 19th century America "secure"? They certainly were not free, and they certainly did not have any security or privacy in their lives! However, freedom, security, and privacy all require action and personal responsibility, and the typical American today shuns those concepts. People would rather receive handouts and allow Supermom (the U.S. Gov't) to take care of them, protect them, control them, and make the decisions for them, because the alternative is "too hard" or "too expensive".
Read the article. This software was "expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers". Apple and Microsoft have not expressly designed anything for those purposes.
Re read the article. You are quoting the US DOJ statement, not what the company or persons in question have said. If you go to the cached version of the stealthgenie website (since the real one is gone) that is not the case. They were marketing it to employers and parents of teens.
Regardless of your opinion on that matter, the statement you quoted appears to be a falsification.
How can you be free, if you don't have security? How can you be secure, if you aren't granted freedom (the definition of liberty)?
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?