Questions tagged [spyware]
Software created with the purpose to spy on users, collecting data, or performing other actions, that might be useful to attackers.
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Detecting hard to detect stalkerware - a theoretical question
Suppose you have a stalker and this person has access to professional advice.
Suppose your Android phone was hacked by means of physical access, i.e. known unlock pattern or stolen password note, with ...
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Risk of spyware with proprietary firmware packages on Linux, even after removing them?
When I installed Debian 12 LXQt ISO with the graphical install, it installed many proprietary firmware packages that were not needed and without my consent.
Is it possible that proprietary firmware ...
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How can I check for malware embedded in an MP4 video? [duplicate]
How can I check for malware embedded in an MP4 video? It was sent over WhatsApp and I have played the video on my Android phone.
Norton scan came back clean.
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Spying on a smartphone remotely by the authorities: feasibility and operation
French lawmakers agreed to a justice reform bill that includes a provision granting police the power to remotely activate suspects' geolocation, microphone and camera (source).
Following the senators, ...
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How to know if my iPhone has spyware [duplicate]
Is there a way I can check if my phone is being tapped or monitored by a spy app? I’ve updated security patches but I am still not ok with that. Any advice?
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Do commercial spyware products allow the attacker to access services protected by PIN secured passkeys on Android/iOS phones?
There are commercial spyware products on the market that allow access to significant functions on the infected phones without the users knowledge. These include ALIEN and PREDATOR from Intellexa, and ...
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Can smartphone eavesdrop on conversations while in your pocket?
Suppose I have a cellphone in my pocket, and it is running a malicious app or malicious code, and I am having an in-person conversation with another person. Is it possible for my phone to capture my ...
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Is it plausible that NSO Group's 0-click attacks are actually bugdoors?
By bugdoors, I mean OS/app devs deliberately introducing vulnerabilities & sharing with front orgs like the NSO Group which then develops and markets the spyware?
Would this process be easier ...
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I have a spyware installed on my laptop and it is filtering my internet usage in real time. How can i bypass the spyware and search the internet [duplicate]
Both my Laptop and phone are compromised, a spyware was installed by someone who was close to me.
Now I am not able to browse the internet fully. Search results on both Google and onion engines are ...
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How to tell if an image has a virus? [duplicate]
I received (and opened) an image from Whatsapp. How can I know if this image contains a virus (spyware)?
Is it possible to send photos containing virus using Whatsapp Mod (unofficial versions of ...
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Is there spy hardware that can be attached to laptops and if so how to detect them?
A while back I lived in shared apartments. One day I returned to my room and found my laptop screen frame open. Since then I keep get log in attempts to my accounts.
I scanned my laptop with multiple ...
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For someone who deals with dangerous files and websites frequently what is the way to avoid getting infected by spyware/virus permanently?
For someone who deals with dangerous files and websites frequently or even for the general user what is the way to avoid getting infected by spyware/virus permanently?
I am looking to buy a new laptop ...
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How is Paypal spying on my incognito browsing?
This weekend, Paypal started sending me emails with discount offers based on websites I visit in incognito mode on my phone.
I have an Android smartphone and am browsing in incognito mode in Chrome. ...
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No root firewall vs any spyware / malware
I am wondering about the effectiveness of no root firewalls as a solution against any type of spyware / malware. Particularly on an android device.
No root firewalls like this one here (aptly named) ...
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Is doc file really modifying registry in Windows?
Been given a .docx file to check whether it has a virus or something, ran McAfee and SuperAntiSpyware on it and results came back negative so I though it was good and proceeded to open it, just a file ...
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How to look a gift iPhone in the mouth for spyware?
Someone I have been dating has suddenly bought me a brand new iPhone. I have legitimate reasons for harbouring a niggling suspicion that this could be a ruse to steal passwords and bank details, just ...
user272208
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What's injected interception?
I was reading this pdf and at slide number 23 and 24 I read "injected interception". What's that means ?
in my mind it should be a type of interception that are made by injection. I mean I ...
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Why are mobile phones OS easily hackable (Pegaus & Co)
Every now and then, you here a story about misuses of mobile OS' spyware softwares, developed by technology firms which usually sell their products to governments or groups with similar power.
You ...
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Is it possible to analyse network traffic to find out if spyware is uploading images, location or messages?
I was thinking about spyware and wondered if you could sniff for suspcious network traffic from spyware.
Mobile spyware usually uploads messages, location and images, is it possible to analyse network ...
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Can attacker who is previous visitor to my home network put factory reset resistant spyware on my pc and phone from the WAN side?
I am amateur/barely novice to home networking trying to narrow down, if at all possible, angles of intrusion.
Attacker connects to home network after I willingly give password. Before they connect I:
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Are there Indicators of Attack or Indicators of Compromise (IoA, IoC) or suspicious events specific to stalkerware?
By stalkerware I mean the type of spyware that is typically marketed as a tool to catch a cheating spouse (or similar).
I am asking because the motive for this type of attack is somewhat different ...
user266997
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Can spyware be downloaded and installed on Android phone in a minute or less?
Following Scenario:
You unlock your phone and you give it to someone so they can promply check it out (since it's a new phone).
Now let's presume that the very exact person has intentions to install ...
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Is there a way to completely disable all forms of microphones/audio recording devices?
There are a variety of anti-audio recording devices out there, including white noise generators which can block audio recording equipments especially phones. What specs should I be looking for if I ...
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IoCs of Pegasus spyware penetration
What are the indicators of compromise (IoCs) that indicate methods used by the Pegasus spyware on mobile phones?
How is penetration still possible when the latest and up-to-date OS of the phone is ...
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Is Linux really not spying on us?
When I ask someone about Linux, people always say it's really safe and this OS doesn't collect your data and these are not spy operating systems.
When I ask them "how?" they say, "...
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Is it possible for someone to spy on an Android phone without using spying apps?
Can a “bad guy” spy on an android phone without installing spy apps (those apps that require payment)? By “spying”, I mean using key logger, screenshots, read messages and so on.
Is it possible to spy ...
user256642
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Android System Update Spyware Can Steal Your Photos, Money, Record Calls and Track You Too. What to do if this happens? [closed]
I came across this website and suddenly I got worried.
What worries me is apart from the system update threat mentioned I have been visiting so many sites, clicked on pop-ups, downloaded apps from ...
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How is it possible for boss to know I am finding a job?
Today, when my boss talking with me, he suddenly said: No you don't need to worry about it, everyday you have 3 or 4 messages with agent in Linkedin right?
I am very very surprised, because :
I work ...
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School wants me to install a root certificate to connect to their network on my personal laptop [duplicate]
What would this do? I'm a bit of a beginner to root certificates so stay with me here, I Don't want it to be able to see what I'm doing at home.
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Could a workplace install a custom bios that gives them access to the system?
This might be the wrong place to ask this, and if so please point me in the right direction. Anyway, a family member works at a public institution where laptops are provided to the staff, which ...
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Can a antivirus software detect a malware that steals data?
For example, consider a software that wants to package all txt files in the /user/Desktop directory and upload them to its own server. I am not a programmer, but I know it can be done very easily with ...
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How should I configure my firewall using iptables commands to defend against hacking? [closed]
I need to add extra security to my Android device using iptables and a firewall to defend against hackers. My specific goals are to prevent a hacker from remotely breaking into my device to begin with ...
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Possible screen share in the background by Bitdefender [closed]
Recently I was chatting with Bitdefender support through their support center and one weird thing I noticed was that the support person would be answering my questions right after I sent them without ...
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Can Android spyware like Pegasus survive flashing of a new ROM?
I live in a country that is not fully authoritarian but is increasingly illiberal. State agencies have been caught misusing spyware to target activists and dissidents on multiple occasions. Given ...
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Can android spyware access photos of my phone
I have installed some mod apks on my phone few days ago and i am feared that if they contain any type of spyware then can they access photos of my phone?
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Do android spyware apps comes attached with games or mod apk files?
I have installed several mod apps of Netflix, amazon prime, games apk from google in android v10. Can spyware be installed through these apk. these apps have not taken much permissions from me they ...
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Current iOS Spyware/Stalkerware Capabilities [closed]
I have a child domestic violence victim I am trying to collect evidence from and coordinate relief for (remotely), but I have cause to believe her phone and/or identity has been hijacked in the past ...
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Work-at-home surveillance software: How do they install on Android devices?
Surveillance software allows employers to monitor all activity on PC and Android devices including screen, voice and chat. All of them, like FlexiSPY and Neatspy (compared here), endlessly list all ...
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Is VirtualBox safe and is it possible its spying on the user?
I'm looking to install a virtual machine and since Hyper-V is not available for my Windows 10 production version I'm forced to decide between VirtualBox and VMWare. VMWare looks much more modern and ...
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Can I be screen-recorded without my knowledge? Is it possible?
If an enemy company's hacker has Remote access to my computer (RAT), can they spy on me and screen record my activities for proof without me knowing it? Can they screen record all my internet ...
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Why governments use spywares instead of just redirecting traffic to their own servers by announcing a new path on BGP?
I was reading about The Hacking Team on Wikipedia. It produces "offensive intrusion and surveillance capabilities" and sells it to "to governments, law enforcement agencies". Its ...
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Does factory resetting a phone erase spyware?
I thought that there was spyware on my phone so I did a factory reset.
Would the spyware be gone or it will still exist even after a factory reset?
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Desperate for removing spywares from both iPhone and Mac PC [duplicate]
I hope this is the correct stackexchange website to ask this, if it's not I'm sorry.
Some time ago I started giving private lectures to a girl and she told me, a computer engineering student, that ...
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Is it really safe to use Signal or Telegram on untrusted phone hardware?
How safe are we when we use phone hardware from untrusted manufacturers and use end-to-end encrypted communication like Signal and Telegram? Are our conversations really safe from keyloggers or ...
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Possibility of spyware on a refurbished router? [duplicate]
I saw a refurbished router on sale on Amazon for a good price and wanted to buy it.
How likely is it that someone could buy these routers, install a custom firmware with spyware? I know spyware has ...
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Do schools save your search history on their computers they issue out? [duplicate]
So I received a laptop from the school and I was wondering if your logged into your own home network but signed into the computer (not in like a google account but like when your first turn on the ...
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Chrome Malware, Redirects To Ad When I Click Link in Google? [duplicate]
I've been dealing with this Chrome malware for awhile now, and I can't identify where it's coming from. Very occasionally, when I click on a top link in Google, it'll redirect me to a site that looks ...
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Re-use an old employer's laptop and avoid monitoring software
I still have an old good laptop from my ex employer that they never requested at the time I left (i assume it was old already by then)
I would like to reuse this computer and not have the risk of ...
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Why did I never see those "spy signal jammers" for sale?
I recently watched a 1980s computer television programme about the problems of spying. Basically, they showed how anyone could buy relatively cheap and common hardware and then be able to sit outside ...
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Can cellphone packets be read by someone who only has your phone number?
I got an IM from a person I recently got acquainted with this year. In the text message, he asked me if I knew the name of the website you download free ebooks from (libgen.is) I found it really weird ...
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