Spy software is a cheap gateway to your personal data
To get going, it is useful to have €50 and a few minutes with the device you want to compromise or a convincing ruse to coax somebody into dropping their online defences. Once installed, a snoop or stealer can get troves of information on what a spouse, staff member, child or intended victim is doing and who they are communicating with. It is so simple it is best to be vigilant:
* Is there an icon or symbol on your phone you do not understand or recall where it came from?
* Does somebody else know more about your chats or your activities than they should?
* Has your antivirus software been disabled or have you been alerted to unusual attempts to access your email accounts?
These are clues that your mobile phone or computer may be running software that is forwarding messages, calls, emails, contacts, internet search histories or passwords to a social spy or scammer.
It is much easier to spot sneaky software installed on phones already in use. That is why phones delivered as presents are a popular technique for putting a bug into a person’s pocket, common where the spy and the target know each other. Texts can also be read using a message reader such as the one to the right.
Otherwise, international con men will find out general information in a bid to strike up a relationship and have people volunteer money or personal data.
Private detectives say the widely available surveillance software is easy to detect for the trained eye, as there is often an icon or app symbol on the phone, particularly GSM handsets.
Now, developers are putting a greater emphasis on making their products discreet and speeding up their work so the maximum amount of information can be stolen in the shortest time.
If you think your phone or computer has been compromised, have it checked.
MOBILE PHONE SPYING
For less than €50 a product called Spy Bubble will allow people intimate access to everything happening on another phone. Spy Bubble will also track where the phone is at a particular time and forward photographs that are being taken.
The technology, which is compatible with most operating systems, needs to be installed manually. This means somebody will have to get access to your phone to download the tool.
From then on, everything sent or received from the spied-on device will be transmitted to the eavesdropper’s computer. There are a number of alternative products and in most recent versions the programme appears embedded as an app.
Parents have used it to check up on children, husbands have spied on wives, and employers have snooped on staff with company phones.
A MOBILE PHONE AS A ROOM BUG
Along with most of the Spy Bubble features, the rival Flexispy is an even more invasive programme. It costs over €200 and will forward a person’s text messages, address book and phone logs. Using GPS a snoop can monitor on their computer where a phone is and where it has been.
A target can be bugged during a call by dialling in. In addition, a mobile can be transformed into a listening device to bug the room. This is done by the eavesdropper calling into the spy-package on the phone and it will act like a microphone. Flexispy says its software cannot be detected by the target.
EMAIL SPYING
There are dozens of programmes available that can sit on a computer and silently forward its activity to a third party.
Most are designed for parents to monitor their children, but there is a large market of employers who want to keep tabs on their staff.
The software can be bought online for less than €40 and comes with various features.
Some of the packages automatically send emails and delivery reports to another account. Many of these, while password protected, can run without the knowledge of the person using the computer.
Features allow the intruding software to stay on a hard drive without spyware or antivirus programmes detecting it.
FACEBOOK PWN
Last year the latest in a line of simple computer tools was developed specifically targeting Facebook users for scams.
It works by automatically trawling Facebook with friend requests and identifying a target. Once accepted, it copies their profile onto a blank account and befriends all their contacts. The imposter app then looks and acts like the original profile.
This rogue identity will then go back to the original target and download all their content before being detected. This will be used for an informed approach by a con artist looking for money.
FREE STEALER SOFTWARE
This needs a bit of programming knowhow but stealer software can walk a person through the process of raiding somebody’s computer for their passwords.
This sets up a virus-type invader that scrapes all the cookies — traces of information giving access to passwords, site histories and login information. This can be step two, after an attacker gets you to click on a dangerous link or download a rogue file.
In addition to the hi-tech equipment used by private investigators such as Liam Brady there are a plethora of inexpensive products people can buy to carry out their own spying.
These include:
* A double adaptor plug, identical to the standard version sold in most shops, which can bug a room and store up to 24 days worth of conversations. It can be bought for €350.
* A hidden transmitter with a built-in SIM card will sit idly in a room but activate when sounds are heard and ring you and broadcast what is being said. It is available for less than €100.
* A fully functioning computer mouse is available that you can call like a phone and listen in to what is being said in its vicinity. It looks and acts like a normal mouse but secretly records like a mobile phone and can be bought for €199.
* A standard-looking digital clock can be used as a hidden camera, activated with a motion sensor. It will store up to 20 hours of footage for €119.
* A device built to imitate a calculator, familiar to most offices, is available that doubles as a digital camera and video recorder for less than €90.
Read more in this special investigation here.
