Spy vs. mSpy: Tracking-App Company Reveals Blackmail Attempt

With so many adults willing to give up their privacy in the name of security, it's no surprise that they'd levy that same treatment (with the same unwarranted sneakiness) onto their own children.  Amusingly enough, one firm that provides such products has now been hit by blackmailers.

Stalk your kids while sipping your coffee!  Except sometimes, it's not so simple...
(Image courtesy whiterosereader.org.)

According to the BBC, the mSpy company, which specializes in providing software for parents to track their children's electronic lives, had allegedly been the target of a major online security breach.  Security expert Brian Krebs had been anonymously alerted to a massive cache of mSpy data being hosted on the Tor "darknet" network, and upon further investigation, he was shocked at what he found.

"There is a crazy amount of personal and sensitive data in this cache, including photos, calendar data, corporate email threads, and very private conversations," Krebs said.

Constantly, crazily pertinent.
(Image courtesy www.youcantwatchme.com.)

However, the cache was soon deleted, making the verification of its contents impossible.

The mSpy app functions as a means for everday snoops to read others' messages, listen in on conversations, and track movements.  Intended for parents who are anxious to keep tabs on their children, the app's abilities also make it a favorite for those who'd want to keep an extra eye on scurrilous employees or sneaky spouses.  

This intricately-detailed diagram unlocks the mysteries of iffy-ethical mSpy use.
(Image courtesy www.mmspyreviews.com.)

Though the app is intended only to be placed on phones or mobile devices of those who are aware they are being monitored, this might not always be the case.

While security experts claim that data-dumps of big companies' information are "relatively frequent" from those seeking to exploit blackmail-enabling material, often the data is falsified.  However, if it is indeed authentic, there's a good chance that more than a few of the spy subjects were unaware of their surveilled state.  

mSpy's data alone comprised (and could have compromised) some 400,000 customers.  So who's the more shady, the for-hire spies or the loot-seeking snoops who reveal them?

By the way, if your kid wants to find porn on the internet,
all the mSpys in the world aren't going to help.
(Image courtesy www.synthese-factory.com.)