One of the largely ignored effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic is the rising number of domestic violence cases since the outbreak started. In fact, the United Nations coined a term for violence against women during these difficult time – ‘shadow pandemic’.
The most used method by perpetrators of such crimes is by monitoring someone through their phone or computer, also considered a form of violence that causes considerable fear in the victims. ‘Stalkerware’, commercial software that allows people to secretly monitor others through their devices, has become a real and rapidly evolving threat.
Fighting against the multifaceted issue of stalkerware requires global and collective action from cybersecurity vendors, non-governmental organisations, law enforcement, and academia. For this reason, 10 key actors in the global cybersecurity ecosystem have come together and created the Coalition Against Stalkerware, a global initiative to provide support to survivors of domestic violence, to combat the use of stalkerware, and to work towards increasing public awareness around this issue.
Working with its partners and survivors across the world, CAS also reported a stark increase in domestic violence and tech abuse incidents in 2020. Kaspersky, a member of CAS, detected that almost 54,000 of their mobile users were affected globally by stalkerware last year. Russia, Brazil, the United States, India and Mexico topped the list of countries most impacted.
There is some good news for the victims as the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is now set to enhance the ability of the global law enforcement community by allowing them to investigate the use of stalkerware, and support victims who require assistance.
“We understand that all key partners must join together to fight against this pervasive tactic of abuse. Given that law enforcement should be able to identify and respond to the threats posed by stalkerware, it’s great to see that Interpol is devoted to working with their global community around the topic of intimate partner violence, unwanted surveillance, and abuse,” said Tara Hairston, CAS representative and Head of Public Affairs, North America, Kaspersky.
“Alongside Interpol and our other partners, we will work to ensure nobody has to fall victim to stalkerware again.”
Interpol will promote training sessions developed by the Coalition to its 194 member countries, to enhance the ability to investigate the use of stalkerware, support victims requesting assistance, and hold perpetrators accountable.
“Interpol is committed to supporting the Coalition Against Stalkerware in its fight against abuse, stalking, and harassment via the use of stalkerware,” said Craig Jones, Director of Cybercrime, Interpol. “We will continue to raise awareness within the global law enforcement community about intimate partner violence, unwanted surveillance, and abuse.”
Since its inception, the Coalition has grown to more than 35 members around the world, gaining strong momentum in helping to combat and educate against these threats.
The Coalition’s partners work to drive real outcomes through their collaboration, including improving technical detection of stalkerware; developing a stalkerware sample and a metadata information sharing mechanism; and providing a series of informational and technical assistance seminars to support organisations working with survivors of domestic violence, and other individuals targeted by stalkerware.
The founding members of the Coalition include Avira; the Electronic Frontier Foundation; the European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence; G Data CyberDefense; Kaspersky; Malwarebytes; the US National Network to End Domestic Violence; NortonLifeLock; Operation Safe Escape and Weisser Ring.
