FinFisher spyware now tapping mobiles
FinFisher, a controversial spyware toolkit being used by oppressive regimes to track activists, can also take over smartphones, researchers announced last week.
Earlier this year, Bahraini activists sent U.S.-based researchers samples of computer spyware that was being delivered through spoofed emails. When downloaded onto Windows systems, the spyware would record Skype calls, copy emails, take screenshots, capture keystrokes, and send the data to remote servers (command and control centres, or C&C). So far, with the help of Rapid7, C&Cs have been found in 15 countries across five continents, including the United States, Australia, Singapore and Bahrain. In most cases it's unclear if the governments of these countries are manning the servers or if they're just intermediaries.
The researchers, led by Citizen Lab, identified the spyware as part of the FinFisher toolkit sold by UK-based Gamma International. Gamma markets the products as software to help governments and law enforcement agencies capture criminals, but privacy advocates say it is being used by oppressive governments to clamp down on activists without criminal records.
