'Stalker app' company CEO arrested, faces federal charges of conspiracy and spyware marketing

The CEO of a company that created the StealthGenie spying app was arrested over the weekend in Los Angeles and now faces a number of federal charges.

Hammad Akbar, a 31-year-old who is the CEO of a company called InvoCode, faces charges of “conspiracy, sale of a surreptitious interception device, advertisement of a known interception device, and advertising a device as a surreptitious interception device,” according to a report from Ars Technica.

Above: InvoCode CEO Hammad Akbar

“He is a leader of the criminal conspiracy responsible for StealthGenie,” the indictment reads. “StealthGenie is an app designed to run on a variety of mobile smartphone platforms, including Google Inc.’s Android platform. Blackberry Limited’s Blackberry platform, and Apple Inc.’s iPhone platform. It surreptitiously intercepts a variety of both outgoing and incoming wire and electronic transmissions to and from the smartphone on which it is installed.

The StealthGenie app monitors calls, texts, videos, and other communications on mobile phones “without detection,” federal prosecutors said.

The federal prosecutors said Akbar’s case is the first time that the goverment has prosecuted someone for selling spying technology that targets adults.

“Selling spyware is not just reprehensible — it’s a crime,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said in a statement. “Apps like StealthGenie are expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers who want to know every detail of a victim’s personal life—all without the victim’s knowledge.”

Akbar and his company hosted the spyware on Amazon Web Services servers in Ashburn, Va., the government said.

Via: Ars Technica