Spy vs spy: iPhone spyware goes on sale

By Stephen Withers
Thursday, 18 December 2008 07:54

Market

Uh-oh... Software that logs iPhone 3G SMS and voice call records to an online server has gone on sale. Is it a legitimate monitoring tool or a sneaky violation of privacy?

Although legitimate and illegitimate spyware is the bane of computer users and jealous partners on today's traditional desktop computers, smartphones have largely been free of the malware menace.

But things are rapidly changing, with the threat now apparent that some smartphones can be too smart for their users' good. After all, the combination of local processing power plus data connectivity can turn your electronic best friend into a handheld computing tattletale.

So, what is the newest spyware threat for the amazing Apple iPhone?

The Mobile Spy software and supporting service for the iPhone 3G costs $US99.97 per year.

For that, suspicious employers, parents and spouses get to see the full text of all SMS messages sent or received, plus a list of all calls including phone number, time and duration.

The spyware works by transferring the information to an Internet server as soon as it is connected, so it remains available even if the user erases the iPhone's internal log.

The records can then be viewed on the server via a web browser, or downloaded in CSV form for use in a local database or spreadsheet.

According to vendor Retina-X Studios, "Mobile Spy runs in total stealth mode and no mentions of the program are shown inside the iPhone."

This implies that the iPhone must be jailbreaked before Mobile Spy can be installed. The company skirts around this point: the web page describing its installation on an iPhone is restricted to its customers "Due to trade secrets".

Hmmm... detailed instructions are provided for the existing versions of Mobile Spy for Windows Mobile or Symbian handsets, so there's clearly some jiggery-pokey involved.

What does Retina-X have to say? Please read on.