The flaw was associated with Telegram’s software mechanism which is used to handle Unicode characters, specifically those for languages which follow a reverse order of writing such as Arabic and Persian. Kaspersky Lab proceeded to notify Telegram of the ‘Zero-day vulnerability’, and the latter fixed it soon afterward. The flaw was spotted by Kaspersky Lab’s cybersecurity experts in October, which means users have been falling prey to the exploit for months. “Overall, we found that five out of the 10 most popular stalkerware program families had poor security or had leaked a tremendous amount of personal data due to breaches,” Firsh wrote in research published Wednesday.įirsh said some stalkerware programs also share server infrastructure, meaning if a hacker exploits a vulnerability in the command-and-control server of one product, other products will have been compromised, too.According to a detailed security report by Kaspersky Lab, Russian cybercriminals have been exploiting a vulnerability in the Telegram app’s Windows client to install crypto jacking malware and spyware on users’ systems since March 2017. Such was the case last year when a hacker wiped some servers of Florida-based Retina-X Studios, Motherboard reported. Vigilante hackers have been known to breach spyware applications, exposing their security flaws to the world. In another, counselors at a safe house for battered women in Minnesota had to call the police after a man used an app to track his wife to the shelter, according to NPR. In one case highlighted by the New York Times last year, a husband reportedly used an app to monitor his wife’s communication in the days before he murdered her.

“They provide different offers for different needs, with tariffs ranging from half a dollar per day to $68/month.”

“Forget Darkweb forums or underground markets, developers of these applications have built their own economic environment,” wrote Kaspersky’s Firsh.

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