Today, the Coalition Against Stalkerware brought aboard 11 new organizations to address the potentially dangerous capabilities of stalkerware, an invasive, digital threat that can rob individuals of their expectation of, and right to, privacy. These types of apps can provide domestic abusers with a new avenue of control over their survivors’ lives, granting wrongful, unfettered access to text … [Read more...]
May 27, 2020
March 23, 2020
A week in security (March 16 – 22)
Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we concluded our series on child identity theft. We also looked into threat actors and campaigns that ride the COVID-19 train, namely the criminal group APT36 and threat actors purporting to be the World Health Organization (WHO) but instead spreading malware. Lastly, we have tips for those who are working at home to stay secure while social distancing. Other … [Read more...]
March 9, 2020
International Women’s Day: awareness of stalkerware, monitoring, and spyware apps on the rise
Nine months ago, Malwarbytes recommitted itself to detecting invasive monitoring apps that can lead to the excessive harm of women—most commonly known as stalkerware. We pledged to raise public awareness, reach out to advocacy groups, and share samples and intelligence with other security vendors. Now, for International Women’s Day (March 8), we decided to take measure of our efforts, examining … [Read more...]
February 27, 2020
Stalkerware and online stalking are accepted by Americans. Why?
Despite warnings from domestic abuse networks, privacy rights advocates, and a committed faction of cybersecurity vendors, Americans may be accepting and minimizing online stalking behaviors, including the use of invasive apps that can pry into a user’s text messages, emails, photos, videos, and phone logs. The limited opposition to these at-times abusive behaviors was revealed by a new study … [Read more...]
November 25, 2019
A week in security (November 18 – 24)
Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at stalkerware’s legal enforcement problem, announced our cooperation with other security vendors and advocacy groups to launch Coalition Against Stalkerware, published our fall 2019 review of exploit kits, looked at how Deepfake on LinkedIn makes for malign interference campaigns, rounded up our knowledge about the Disney+ security and service issues, … [Read more...]
November 19, 2019
Malwarebytes teams up with security vendors and advocacy groups to launch Coalition Against Stalkerware
Today, Malwarebytes is announcing its participation in a joint effort to stop invasive digital surveillance: the Coalition Against Stalkerware. For years, Malwarebytes has detected and warned users about the potentially dangerous capabilities of stalkerware, an invasive threat that can rob individuals of their expectation of, and right to, privacy. Just like the domestic abuse it can enable, … [Read more...]
November 18, 2019
Stalkerware’s legal enforcement problem
Content warning: This piece contains brief descriptions of domestic violence and assault against women and children. In the past five years, only two stalkerware developers, both of whom designed, marketed, and sold tools favored by domestic abusers to pry into victims’ private lives, have faced federal consequences for their actions. Following a guilty plea in court, one was ordered to pay … [Read more...]
November 4, 2019
October 29, 2019
October 28, 2019
A week in security (October 21 – 27)
Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we explored a link between Magecart Group 5 and the Carbanak APT, we discussed the growing rate of robocalls threatening user privacy, and we tipped you off on how to protect yourself from doxing. We were glad to see the BBC raise awareness about stalkerware, much like we did a few weeks ago. Other cybersecurity news NordVPN, a popular virtual private … [Read more...]
