Convicted spyware maker Bryan Fleming avoids jail at sentencing
The pcTattletale founder escapes a custodial sentence following the first successful prosecution of a spyware maker in the U.S. for over a decade.
stalkerware
Hacked, leaked, exposed: Why you should never use stalkerware apps
According to TechCrunch’s ongoing tally, including the most recent data spill involving uMobix, there have been at least 27 stalkerware companies since 2017 that are known to have been hacked, or leaked customer and victims’ data online.
Hacktivist scrapes over 500,000 stalkerware customers’ payment records
More than half-a-million people who bought access to phone surveillance and social media snooping apps had their email address and partial payment card numbers published online.
Founder of spyware maker pcTattletale pleads guilty to hacking and advertising surveillance software
Bryan Fleming, the founder of hacked stalkerware company pcTattletale, pleaded guilty to federal charges linked to the running of his now-defunct Michigan-based spyware company.
FTC upholds ban on stalkerware founder Scott Zuckerman
Zuckerman, who used to run the stalkerware apps SpyFone and SpyTrac, claimed the ban is hurting his unrelated business.
A new security flaw in TheTruthSpy phone spyware is putting victims at risk
Exclusive: Hackers can take over the accounts of TheTruthSpy spyware customers, putting their victims’ private phone data at risk thanks to a new security flaw.
Google took a month to shut down Catwatchful, a phone spyware operation hosted on its servers
Google has suspended the Firebase account of Catwatchful following a TechCrunch investigation. The spyware operation was caught using Google’s own servers to host and run its surveillance app, which was stealthily monitoring thousands of people’s phones.
Serial spyware founder Scott Zuckerman wants the FTC to unban him from the surveillance industry
The spyware maker was banned from the surveillance industry in 2021, but was caught flouting the ban less than a year later. Now the founder wants the ban lifted altogether.
Data breach reveals Catwatchful ‘stalkerware’ is spying on thousands of phones
The spyware operation’s exposed customer email addresses and passwords were shared with data breach notification service Have I Been Pwned.
Hacked, leaked, exposed: Why you should never use stalkerware apps
Using stalkerware is creepy, unethical, potentially illegal, and puts your data and that of your loved ones in danger.