The stalkerware application Known as pcTattletale Declares it is ‘Ceasing Operations’ After Experiencing a Data Violation and Website Tampering
An American surveillance tool provider pcTattletale has decided to permanently close down following a significant data violation that exposed confidential data related to its clients, along with information stolen from some of their targets.
pcTattletale was marketed as “monitoring software for employees and children” created to “guard your business and family.” In reality, it was a means to clandestinely monitor the phones and computers of others, covertly observing all their activities.
The software boasted about being “Completely Invisible,” which raises an interesting question. Why would pcTattletale need to remain undetected if it were meant for monitoring employees or children? Surely, a parent or employer would only utilize the software with the consent and awareness of their child or employee?
The rationale behind this is that stalkerware such as pcTattletale can also be employed to track the location and behaviors of individuals without their knowledge, remotely capturing screenshots and private details from anywhere globally. It’s easy to speculate that many of those monitored without permission might be partners in a relationship or domestic companions.
Regular followers of Hot for Security are aware that it’s not uncommon for stalkerware enterprises to encounter vulnerabilities in security, leaking their databases containing details about their clients and the individuals who are monitored. Last August, for instance, we covered a story on the LetMeSpy stalkerware (in hindsight, the name indicated its purpose) being compromised and ceasing operations.
The most recent victim among the unsettling spouseware providers is pcTattletale. A couple of days ago, we disclosed how the website of pcTattletale was vandalized, and its database and source code made public.
Most likely, the primary indication for most pcTattletale clients was that the stalkerware’s main page had been altered.
Instead of the typical pcTattletale website promoting the functionalities of its “employee and child monitoring” software…
…the website was defaced with a message from a hacker, directing to numerous gigabytes of documents allegedly containing the company’s databases.
The exposed data included specifics of 138,751 customer accounts, including device specifics, email addresses, IP addresses, names, passwords, phone numbers, physical addresses, SMS messages, and usernames.
The pcTattletale website is now inactive, and in a concise statement to TechCrunch, app founder Bryan Fleming declared his company was “shutting down and exiting operations completely.”
Irrespective of the morality of a stalkerware operation, there are evidently valuable lessons here that all businesses should grasp regarding the significance of robust cybersecurity, particularly when managing such private information.
However, beyond that, the general public needs to comprehend that using stalkerware to spy on others without their consent is never justifiable. And if you choose to digitally track someone using an application like pcTattletale, you face the possibility of your intrusive actions becoming public knowledge when the service experiences a security breach.
If you want to delve deeper into the stalkerware problem, or are anxious that someone may be employing spyware against you, I would suggest visiting the website of the Coalition Against Stalkerware.
About Author
