Thailand-based mobile software company Vervata has rolled out an application, FlexiSpy, for Symbian mobile phones to capture call logs, text messages and mobile Internet activity. Vervata advertises the software as a tool to monitor kids and unfaithful spouses. The data captured 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 labeled 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.
Vervata however says: "FlexiSpy is activity monitoring software that needs to be consciously installed by a human who knows exactly what the software does. It does not self replicate, it does not pretend to be something it is not...” An uninstall option is provided, Vervata added.
FlexiSpy, which retails at USD 49.95 a piece, is currently available for cell phones that run the Symbian operating system, such as Nokia Series 60 handsets. Versions for BlackBerry Microsoft's Windows Mobile Pocket PC operating system are to be released, according to the company's Web site.
The company is working on "FlexiSpy Pro," which will log e-mail and multimedia messages, in addition to the other data, according to the company's web site. That version will also include a "monitoring" feature that lets the user call the target cell phone from a preset number and listen in on what is going on in the background, in much the same way a baby monitor works. |
