Spy tool for popular device claims to be legitimate.
The expansion of the
FlexiSpy
mobile device snooping software, originally available only for the
Symbian
platform but with versions for both
Windows Mobile
and
Blackberry
released in May, has caused a war of words between the software maker and security vendor
F-Secure
.
While the maker,
Vervata
, claims its product has numerous legitimate uses and can only be installed by deliberate human interaction on the specific device, many mobile security products are detecting the tool as spyware, thanks to its ability to steal phone data and forward SMS messages and even voice conversations to third parties.
F-Secure
initially
blogged
about the product in May last year, dubbing it the ‘first Trojan Spy for Symbian phones’. A
ZDnet
article (
here
) reported some adverse reactions to the
Blackberry
version, including commentary from an
F-Secure
spokesperson. With many firms including
F-Secure
detecting the product as malware, its maker has issued several highly passionate press releases attacking
F-Secure
here
and
here
, which go as far as describing
F-Secure
‘s own product as malware.
Posted on 04 July 2007 by
Virus Bulletin
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