The Danish owner of the company behind StealthGenie, an app that allows users to other smartphone users can spy, is sentenced to a fine of $ 500,000. That has been converted to more than 400,000 euros.
The U.s. department of Justice says that it is the Deen, Hammad Akbar, in september has been arrested and a court has now sentenced. Akbar also received a prison sentence that is equal to the time he is in custody at the time; he does so no longer in prison to remain. However, he must make the source code of StealthGenie to hand over to the U.s. government. The website of StealthGenie was already taken offline.
With StealthGenie allowed users to other smartphone users to spy on. To this end, they had to first install the StealthGenie app on the spy on phone to install the spying app supported iOS, Android and BlackBerry phones. Once installed it could allow an attacker to get access to e-mails, text messages, photos, videos, and calendar items.
The app did it’s best to not to fall. So was the app on Android not visible in the app drawer, the average user would never discover that his device has spyware on board.
It is the first time that a maker of spyware in the United States is condemned. The exploit of spyware is punishable under U.s. law. It is unclear what that means for the maker of commercial malware such as FinFisher and Hacking Team that their where to sell to governments. Also users from that malware, according to the U.s. government a criminal offence. That applies probably not for governments, which, although the malware to use, but more are companies and private persons.
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