ok so there's apparently some confusion over my previous post about neo-call... i'm going to try and make this as simple as possible, both for the benefit of the confused and as an object lesson for everyone else...
softWARE that can SPY on someone is SPYWARE... this shouldn't be rocket science to anyone... flexispy and neo-call's spyphone both enable spying and so are both spyware...
software that does something bad (like for example spying on people) without disclosing that fact is a trojan horse program... neither flexispy nor neo-call's spyphone let the person being spied on know that it's spying on them, they both do something bad without disclosing the fact and thus are both trojans...
the fact that neo-call's spyphone is several times more expensive than flexispy doesn't stop it from being spyware or a trojan, it just makes it an expensive spyware trojan...
the fact that the installer generated by neo-call, when you give them the code for the target phone, can only be used on that phone doesn't stop it from being a spyware trojan, it just makes it a more limited spyware trojan...
the fact that flexispy can be installed on many phones does not make it a virus... many programs can be installed on many phones, that has nothing to do with being a virus and being a virus has nothing to do with why f-secure added detection for flexispy...
the fact that flexispy has a hidden menu is not what makes it bad and the absense of a similar menu doesn't make neo-call's spyphone good... flexispy is bad because it hides it's menu and every other indication that it's installed (in other words, it doesn't disclose it's spying nature) - neo-call's spyphone has no menu to hide but still hides all the other indications that it's installed and therefore is equally bad...
in short - neo-call's spyphone is just as bad as flexispy, it is just as much a spyware trojan as flexispy... it's limitations (the high cost per installation) make it a much smaller risk to the public, however, and that is why anti-virus vendors don't take it as seriously as they do flexispy...
Showing posts with label neo-call. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neo-call. Show all posts
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
cellphone spyware part deux
so my last posting about cellphone spyware (flexispy) apparently was interesting enough to someone for them to send me my very first non-spam feedback... specifically, someone claiming to be affiliated with neo-call sent me a nice little email with their views on the flexispy story...
this is actually pretty amazing, because apparently the neo-call folks (being industry leaders) developed superior cellphone spying technology months ago and nobody paid any attention to them or talked about them (awwwww)... the email goes on to say that it's very interesting that f-secure picked up on the flexispy story a day after the software was released - and i agree... if it really was only a day after the software was released it would appear that vervata decided that getting a examined by anti-virus vendors would make for a good publicity stunt, and i suppose they may be right... on the other hand, f-secure now detects their product as a spyware trojan so i guess that kinda backfired on them since that detection is going to limit the marketability product (who wants to pay for spyware that an anti-virus product can already detect?)...
finally, the email finished off with a lament about how neo-call is an industry leader (in the field of cellphone spyware, apparently) and how it's a shame that nobody is paying any attention to them or talking about them at all.. clearly they're jealous of all the special lovin' the boys and girls and f-secure have been giving flexispy and they want in on some of that action - and it appears they may be deserving... their product forwards sms messages, lo-jack's the phone through GSM localization, and i gather there's even a bonus add-on for listening in on calls - definitely sounds spyware to me... oh, and get this, the FAQ clearly states that you can't tell the product is installed by examining the phone - yup, it fails to disclose it's true nature just like flexispy, isn't that wonderfully up-front of them to admit to it's trojan nature?
mikko and the rest of the gang at f-secure - these guys are obviously looking for some of your special attention, so go ahead and hook 'em up..
[edit april 7 2006: i don't know what i was thinking posting links to a malware distributor, i guess i must have been laughing too hard to realize what i was doing]
this is actually pretty amazing, because apparently the neo-call folks (being industry leaders) developed superior cellphone spying technology months ago and nobody paid any attention to them or talked about them (awwwww)... the email goes on to say that it's very interesting that f-secure picked up on the flexispy story a day after the software was released - and i agree... if it really was only a day after the software was released it would appear that vervata decided that getting a examined by anti-virus vendors would make for a good publicity stunt, and i suppose they may be right... on the other hand, f-secure now detects their product as a spyware trojan so i guess that kinda backfired on them since that detection is going to limit the marketability product (who wants to pay for spyware that an anti-virus product can already detect?)...
finally, the email finished off with a lament about how neo-call is an industry leader (in the field of cellphone spyware, apparently) and how it's a shame that nobody is paying any attention to them or talking about them at all.. clearly they're jealous of all the special lovin' the boys and girls and f-secure have been giving flexispy and they want in on some of that action - and it appears they may be deserving... their product forwards sms messages, lo-jack's the phone through GSM localization, and i gather there's even a bonus add-on for listening in on calls - definitely sounds spyware to me... oh, and get this, the FAQ clearly states that you can't tell the product is installed by examining the phone - yup, it fails to disclose it's true nature just like flexispy, isn't that wonderfully up-front of them to admit to it's trojan nature?
mikko and the rest of the gang at f-secure - these guys are obviously looking for some of your special attention, so go ahead and hook 'em up..
[edit april 7 2006: i don't know what i was thinking posting links to a malware distributor, i guess i must have been laughing too hard to realize what i was doing]
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