PhoneSnoop is software developed for the Blackberry which allows you to turn any Blackberry into a snooping device. Much like Flexispy at least claims to do, you just load PhoneSnoop on any Blackberry, activate it, and then you can listen in on whatever is happening in the room in which the Blackberry is placed.
Once PhoneSnoop is enabled on the target Blackberry, which includes telling the PhoneSnoop software to activate when called from a certain number, the snooper needs just call the Blackberry from one of the designated numbers, and they can listen over the connection to their heart’s content.
Unlike Flexispy, however, PhoneSnoop was created, says developer Sheran Gunasekera, not so much to put the ability to spy in the hands of nosy people as to make people aware of the capabilities, and of just how vulnerable they may be.
As the PhoneSnoop users’ guide explains, “PhoneSnoop is a BlackBerry application that demonstrates how an attacker can remotely activate the microphone of a BlackBerry handheld and listen to sounds near or around it. PhoneSnoop is a component of Bugs – a proof-of-concept spyware toolkit. It exists solely to demonstrate the capabilities of a BlackBerry handheld when used to conduct surveillance on an individual. It is purely a proof-of-concept application and does not posses any of the stealth or spyware features that makes it malicious.”
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As Director of Security for Hermis Consulting, Gunasekera knows all too well how vulnerable users are to threats like this, hence his desire to raise awareness about the potential for malicious activities.
Explains Gunasekera, “What I wanted to do was bring some awareness to this problem, so I’m releasing it pretty much for free and trying to show them that this can be done. It’s not well known that these threats exist.”
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