The head of a Pakistani company which created an app called StealthGenie allowing users to spy on other people's mobile devices was indicted on US criminal charges, officials said Monday.
The Justice Department said the indictment of Hammad Akbar, 31, of Lahore, Pakistan, is the first-ever criminal case concerning the advertisement and sale of a mobile device spyware app.
Akbar is chief executive of InvoCode Pvt Ltd, which advertises and sells StealthGenie online and which uses a data center based in Virginia.
The app enables the monitoring of voice calls and chats on mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone and Android handsets.
According to officials the business plan of the group was to market the app to people who suspected cheating by a spouse or partner.
(Score: 2) by fnj on Tuesday September 30 2014, @05:26PM
So how does the US Justice Department propose to bring this low life to justice? I imagine they could go after the "data center" in the US and maybe nab him if he is crazy enough to visit the US, but otherwise?
Now, what is a "data center" and why would would a criminal residing in another country want one in the US?
(Score: 2) by hoochiecoochieman on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:04PM
Come on, it's Pakistan! They'll send a drone after him. If it doesn't work, then they can send the SEALs.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:08PM
It doesn't sound like this guy was a criminal before the indictment, just a business man with a plan to sell software.
This might just be the US government trying to keep the general population from really thinking about how easy it is to spy on a cell phone.
Consider this, most people don't worry about the US governments ability to spy on them because they don't think they are interesting enough to be spied on by the government or they just don't care that some faceless pleb they will never meet knows they are screwing the bosses wife. But with this app they would have to worry about the girlfriend they are cheating on or the creepy guy in the next cubicle being able to monitor them.
When it gets personal people start paying more attention and taking action, like using encrypted phones, that would also make it hard for the government to monitor everyone without a warrant.
Like the old saying goes, the reason the government hates organized crime is because they hate the competition.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 3, Informative) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:33PM
The United States has an extradition treaty [internationalextraditionblog.com] with Pakistan.
But that doesn't matter in this case, because according to TFA, the suspect was arrested in Los Angeles.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday October 01 2014, @01:12AM
I think the big question is;
Did this guy do anything illegal in Pakistan when he sold the software?
If no then what the hell is the US government doing prosecuting him for it?
Oh wait,
that's right, the USA thinks their laws apply EVERYWHERE.
Anybody else remember Dmitry Sklyarov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._ElcomSoft_and_Sklyarov [wikipedia.org]
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by monster on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:09PM
They may have a leg on the charges:
Apart from the datacenter angle, the company is selling the product to USA nationals and being "delivered" in USA soil, so it can be legally prosecuted. It would be like a smuggler selling drugs across the border from a country that don't consider drugs to be illegal: If he keeps the sales in his country US laws wouldn't have standing to reach him, but once his transactions enter the USA he's fair game. And since he was arrested at LA, that's correct too, no extradition required.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Techwolf on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:21PM
Will the Justice department go after the NSA next? They been creating and using spyware apps for a lot longer then these guys.
(Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:37PM
I wish! But the crime in this case appears to be distributing the app, not making it, so the NSA probably didn't violate that particular law.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by MrGuy on Tuesday September 30 2014, @08:45PM
A spyware app is by definition useless unless you distribute it. Spying on yourself isn't terribly interesting.
Oh, and throw in violating the CFAA, which we all know is a felony.
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Tuesday September 30 2014, @10:42PM
No.
This is just the NSA eliminating the competition. ;-)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by strattitarius on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:23PM
I fail to see how StealthGenie is fundamentally different from the software we purchased legally from some company back in 06 or 07? In fact I would not doubt my previous employer is currently trying to figure out where to buy this product, and I see no reason they shouldn't be able to. There are no hacks or tricks to install it; you have to have physical and admin access to the phone/computer.
I am far more worried about this specious indictment than I am with (commercial and legit) spying software.
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(Score: 2, Interesting) by darnkitten on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:56PM
I would not doubt my previous employer is currently trying to figure out where to buy this product, and I see no reason they shouldn't be able to.
Maybe...if powers of surveillance are too dangerous to allow a government access to without safeguards (a warrant), then they are too dangerous to allow a corporation access to without equivalent safeguards.
Any road, this app seems too intrusive for even informed consent to allow...According to another article,
Almost anything on a smartphone is vulnerable to collection by StealthGenie, including texts, photos, calendar entries, contacts and Web browsing history. Calls can be recorded and listened to later, and the microphone can be activated so that the user can simply listen to the ambient sounds of a target’s daily life, according to a cached version of the company Web site, which was not active Monday. The app also plots the moment-by-moment movements of a target on an online map, and can send an alert to the user if the phone goes to selected locations.
I would assume for that level of monitoring of an adult, one should need a finding of mental incapacity or a ruling of imminent danger on behalf of the subject from a competent authority.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by strattitarius on Tuesday September 30 2014, @07:15PM
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(Score: 1) by darnkitten on Tuesday September 30 2014, @07:48PM
The category was purposefully chosen; children are assumed to lack capacity, and parents, or those in loco parentis are assumed to have the right to monitor them.
I might, though, in a half-joking way, point out the difference in appropriate levels of monitoring (see again the list of what the software does) between, say a newborn, a school-age child or an older teen--one is a completely acceptable level of care, one might be considered smothering though understandable, and one, although justifiable, might get you placed in a facility (legal, mental, or nursing) when the child has the opportunity to get a ruling on your mental state
not that an infant would have emails for you to intercept, but I assume you get the point :)
(Score: 2) by melikamp on Wednesday October 01 2014, @05:44AM
(Score: 1) by chris on Tuesday September 30 2014, @11:12PM
If you look at their website through google cache it does not seem to be marketed to stalkers and the site has plenty of disclaimers saying it's only for lawful purposes.