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New software that hides on mobile phones and captures call logs and text messages is being sold as a way to monitor kids and spouses. But one security company calls it a Trojan horse.
The FlexiSpy application captures call logs, text messages and mobile Internet activity, among other things. The software, released at the beginning of March, sells for US$49.95 and is advertised by Bangkok, Thailand-based Vervata as a tool to monitor kids and unfaithful spouses. The data captured is sent to Vervata's servers and is accessible to customers via a special Web site.
Similar surveillance software for PCs already exists and has raised the ire of groups fighting domestic violence, who fear it may be used by abusive spouses.
FlexiSpy has attracted a different kind of criticism from security company F-Secure, which has labelled the software a Trojan, or a malicious program that disguises itself as something innocuous.
"This application installs itself without any kind of indication as to what it is," Jarno Niemela wrote on the Finnish antivirus maker's corporate blog Wednesday. "And when it is installed on the phone, it completely hides itself from the user."
FlexiSpy could be used by miscreants as part of malicious software that targets phones, Niemela wrote. Alternatively, an attacker could try sending the program to phones via a Bluetooth connection and trust that there are enough curious people to install it. F-Secure has updated its security software for mobile phones to detect the program.
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Posted: 2007-05-25 23:02:20
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