Kaspersky, Interpol assist the Coalition Against Stalkerware

Kaspersky is assisting the Coalition Against Stalkerware to provide law enforcement with the skills needed to investigate digital stalking.

Kaspersky, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), and Westnet, Australia's national umbrella organisation for domestic violence services, recently organised two online training sessions in conjunction with Interpol.

The online training, which involved more than 210 participants, aimed at helping enhance capacity building within law enforcement agencies, supporting victims requesting assistance, and holding perpetrators to book.

Stalkerware enables an aggressor to spy on someone’s private life through their mobile device. The software is easy to obtain, and gives access to a wide range of personal information, including device location, browser history, text messages, social media chats, photos and more.

However, stalkerware goes beyond the invasion of privacy, and is considered another form of digital and domestic violence.

Karen Bentley, CEO of Wesnet, says stalking is associated with a greater risk of lethal and near-lethal harm. 

“Our research with Australian frontline family violence workers found that tracking and monitoring of women by perpetrators had risen 244% between 2015 and 2020, and stalking is often via technological means,” she explains.

It is one of the most prevalent forms of abuse that happens alongside domestic and family violence, Bentley adds.

Kaspersky’s State of Stalkerware 2020 report revealed that 53 870 mobile users globally were affected by stalkerware last year, and bearing in mind that this number takes only Kaspersky users into account, the total number worldwide will be significantly higher.

The Coalition, co-founded by Kaspersky in 2019, and made up of more than 40 active organisations tackling the issue of stalkerware today, estimates that usage of stalkerware likely exceeds one million instances per year.

Pei Ling Lee, acting assistant director of Cyber Strategy and Capabilities Development at Interpol, says the global law enforcement community is very familiar with the scourge of digital stalking. “But there is a need to enhance capabilities around how to conduct investigations on stalkerware. The software hides itself and investigations need to be undertaken carefully for the safety of the victims.”

Lee says the online sessions organised with Kaspersky, NNEDV and Wesnet, gave helpful advice for member countries. 

In each sessions, Kaspersky experts shared knowledge from a technical perspective around what stalkerware is and how it is installed. Law enforcement officers also learned different ways to detect the scourge without compromising a victim's safety.

Noushin Shabab, senior security researcher at Kaspersky, says while the security company is happy to be working with law enforcement agencies to share its expertise, knowledge of the threat alone doesn’t cut it.

That’s why the company is giving officers solutions, including TinyCheck – an open source tool to detect stalkerware when being confronted with a suspected case, without alerting the perpetrator. During the training, there was an introduction of how to work with the tool, which Shabab says will ideally become a standard tool to help victim support and law enforcement agencies alike.

Also during the training, two NGOs working in the field of domestic violence shared tips on how law enforcement officers can better support victims who require assistance.

Erica Olsen, director of NNEDV, says the use of technology as a tactic of abuse is rife.

“Keeping up with evolving technology that is being weaponised can be a challenge for law enforcement, advocates, and survivors. It’s important for professionals working with survivors to understand the ways technology can be misused and how to support survivors. Survivors should be empowered to learn how to increase their privacy and safety with technology.”

Kaspersky advises anyone suspecting they might be compromised by stalkerware to not rush to remove it if found as the abuser may notice. “It is very important to consider that the abuser may be a potential safety risk. In some cases, the person may escalate their abusive behaviours in response.”

Rather, the company says to contact local authorities and service organisations supporting victims of domestic violence – for assistance and safety planning.

A list of relevant organisations in several countries can be found on www.stopstalkerware.org.

The Coalition has a video on stalkerware and how to protect against it on the homepage available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. There is also a dedicated page for victims and survivors on stalkerware detection, removal and prevention.