[LINK] Google engineer finds British spyware on PCs and smartphones

[Kim Holburn]

"Legitimate spyware"?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/31/finspy_gamma_polcie_spying/

> Google engineer finds British spyware on PCs and smartphones
> 
> FinSpy turning up in dictatorships across the world
> 
> By Iain Thomson in San Francisco • Get more from this author
> 
> Posted in Security, 31st August 2012 23:30 GMT
> 
> Two security researchers have found new evidence that legitimate spyware sold by British firm Gamma International appears to be being  used by some of the most repressive regimes in the world.
> 
> Google security engineer Morgan Marquis-Boire and Berkeley student Bill Marczak were investigating spyware found in email attachments to several Bahraini activists. In their analysis they identified the spyware infecting not only PCs but a broad range of smartphones, including iOS, Android, RIM, Symbian, and Windows Phone 7 handsets.
> 
> The spying software has the capability to monitor and report back on calls and GPS positions from mobile phones, as well as recording Skype sessions on a PC, logging keystrokes, and controlling any cameras and microphones that are installed.
> 
> They report the code appears to be FinSpy, a commercial spyware sold to countries for police criminal investigations. FinSpy was developed by the German conglomerate Gamma Group and sold via the UK subsidiary Gamma International. In a statement to Bloomberg, managing director Martin Muench denied the company had any involvement.

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-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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