JE Technology Desk: LetMeSpy, an Android phone monitoring app, was compromised by a hacker, leading to the leakage of call details, messages and the location of users. Advertised as a parental supervision or workforce monitoring app, LetMeSpy shared the update via a notice.
According to TechCrunch, the website of the app maker, said, "a security incident" accessed the data of the web users in an unauthorised manner. The criminals sneaked into e-mail IDs, contact numbers, and messages of these accounts.
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LetMeSpy is designed to remain hidden on a user's smartphone, which makes it difficult to remove or find in the first place. As per the news outlet, the app allows physical access to a device without the owner's consent. Such apps are also called spouseware and stalkerware.
LetMeSpy: How It Works?
Once the app is installed, it uploads the messages, location and calls details onto its servers, which transfer these details to the person who installed it to track the activities on the device. The news outlet reports that such surveillance apps are buggy and have security flaws that lead to such cases.
A researcher from Polish security first reported this and reached out to the spyware developer for their remarks. However, the hacker responded to the request, according to the report.
LetMeSpy: Affected Users
As per the leaked dataset accessed by TC, the details were as old as 2013 and had records of around 13,000 devices.
LetMeSpy, in January, shared that its spyware tracked more than 2,36,000 devices and collected call logs (in millions), text messages, E-mail IDs and locations. The location data points have been speculated to be focused in India, the United States, and West Africa. The company is yet to notify the affected users of these attacks.
LetMeSpy: How To Uninstall?
Users can head to the app database of the Android smartphone and locate an app called 'LMS' to uninstall it. Moreover, it is recommended that you switch on Play Protect from the Google Play Store. Also, keep a tab on the Internet consumption of apps to find strange activity.