According to a Kaspersky report, the privacy of about 32000 smartphone users was breached by stalkerware in 2021 and was linked to online and offline violence. Once installed on a victim’s device, this snooping software passes information about the person’s GPS location, conversations, images, and browsing history to the stalker. Such apps are marketed as software to protect children or track employees but have often been used in abusive relationships.

Kaspersky has launched a tool called TinyCheck that detects stalkerware on a device backed by an online hub. The website dedicated to TinyCheck highlights the latest developments and updates on how it can be used. Kaspersky had developed the solution in 2019 after a discussion with a women’s shelter in France, where victims of stalkerware attacks received help and support.

TinyCheck was designed to be a tool that is untraceable and easy to use while it gathered evidence on stalkers invading a smartphone user’s privacy. Anyone can download TinyCheck, which is open-source software and can be improved by contributions from all users. It remains undetectable by using an external device called a Raspberry Pi microcomputer to monitor a phone instead of being installed on it directly. This way, the perpetrator doesn’t get to know that their stalkerware is being monitored by Kaspersky’s tool.

The TinyCheck hub, which has gone live today, provides information about this tool’s applications and is meant to reach out to a team for further enhancement of the solution. Through the website, Kaspersky hopes to find new partners who will raise awareness about TinyCheck to help victims of stalkerware.

The anti-stalkerware solution doesn’t touch a user’s communication data, such as messages and emails while interacting with online servers and IPs to which the device is linked. It has been an essential tool for an increasing number of NGOs that protect women from abusive relationships.