Phonespyware misuse
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I saw from this mornings mail out yet another statement of the obvious regarding phone spyware - this time MSpy. There may be others on the list like Spyera or spyfone but I got bored reading it. "Its to allow parents / employers monitor authorized devices but really its for spying on your partner". No one ever talks about these things being used for theft. Consider this, you are on your expensive new phone in a built up area and some low-life snatches it and cycles off. But as soon as you report the loss to the police, your luck is in - some honest soul has found it and returned it still in pristine condition. What you don't realize is that since it was snatched unlocked, our low-life was able to get spyware onto it then hand it in to a police station and now just has to sit back, monitor it, capture your bank details, home details and anything else they wish... Same probably goes for cheap phone deals from online auction sites.
Ger
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I saw from this mornings mail out yet another statement of the obvious regarding phone spyware - this time MSpy. There may be others on the list like Spyera or spyfone but I got bored reading it. "Its to allow parents / employers monitor authorized devices but really its for spying on your partner". No one ever talks about these things being used for theft. Consider this, you are on your expensive new phone in a built up area and some low-life snatches it and cycles off. But as soon as you report the loss to the police, your luck is in - some honest soul has found it and returned it still in pristine condition. What you don't realize is that since it was snatched unlocked, our low-life was able to get spyware onto it then hand it in to a police station and now just has to sit back, monitor it, capture your bank details, home details and anything else they wish... Same probably goes for cheap phone deals from online auction sites.
Ger
ummm, if I know someone else has had my equipment for any length of time, even a friend (not saying they did it on purpose, perhaps went to the wrong site etc) I'll scan it, and if still not comfortable (been with a stranger) reformat/reset it to factory. likewise for the wifes gear. (yes I'll fully check out for instance her work laptop/tablet if her own office IT department has 'installed' something or 'updated the work apps' etc on it for her.) I'm very pragmatic about this: viruses, trojans, spyware, ransomeware etc. are designed with the gullible and stupid in mind, and that business is booming.
after many otherwise intelligent sounding suggestions that achieved nothing the nice folks at Technet said the only solution was to low level format my hard disk then reinstall my signature. Sadly, this still didn't fix the issue!
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I saw from this mornings mail out yet another statement of the obvious regarding phone spyware - this time MSpy. There may be others on the list like Spyera or spyfone but I got bored reading it. "Its to allow parents / employers monitor authorized devices but really its for spying on your partner". No one ever talks about these things being used for theft. Consider this, you are on your expensive new phone in a built up area and some low-life snatches it and cycles off. But as soon as you report the loss to the police, your luck is in - some honest soul has found it and returned it still in pristine condition. What you don't realize is that since it was snatched unlocked, our low-life was able to get spyware onto it then hand it in to a police station and now just has to sit back, monitor it, capture your bank details, home details and anything else they wish... Same probably goes for cheap phone deals from online auction sites.
Ger
Just sort your phone's drawer by install date, and check it after anyone else has had possession of it. And install a firewall (if your phone isn't rooted, use something like No-root Firewall[^]) All good security needs, after all, is a modicum of common sense.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!