Kaspersky TinyCheck

The main articles are:

• Stalker Software (spyware)
• Antiviruses

2022: Launch of the portal about TinyCheck

Kaspersky Lab on June 30, 2022 announced the launch of a portal on how to detect onestalker software on smartphone software - commercial surveillance programs - using TinyCheck. It is a free and open source tool developed for NGOs that work with victims of domestic violence and harassment. This site contains information about the latest developments and the latest changes in the solution. The page is available in English.

The idea of ​ ​ developing TinyCheck appeared as a result of a dialogue between Kaspersky Lab and representatives of one of the French shelters for women affected by domestic violence. There were more and more victims of stalker software, and the organization did not know how to solve this problem from a technological point of view. An easy-to-use tool was needed that would collect evidence against aggressors and that could not be tracked on the device. So in 2019, TinyCheck appeared. The solution is installed not on a smartphone, but on a separate external device - the Raspberry Pi microcomputer. TinyCheck can check outgoing Internet traffic, analyze it in real time and recognize connections to the control centers of stalker software developers. At the same time, the solution does not allow the initiator of surveillance to find out about such verification.

The tool can work on any OS and only interacts with serversIP online/-addresses with which the smartphone communicates, that is, it does not collect information about who a person is talking to or what he is discussing. Data from the analyzed device are not transferred anywhere: neither Kaspersky Lab nor any other party will gain access to this information. All analysis is performed locally.

Unlike the large variety of stalker software, there are not many means of detecting it. For some mobile devices, they simply do not exist, for example, for the iPhone. Therefore, a hidden scanner is needed to detect stalker software. The aggressor should not know that the victim is trying to check if there is a surveillance program on the device, since the consequences can be unpredictable. Kaspersky Lab has developed such a tool - a special TinyCheck scanner, - said Viktor Chebyshev, a cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab.

Stalker software opens access to a lot of personal data: browser search history, chats, social networks, location. The use of such programs poses a serious threat to privacy. We consider such an invasion of privacy unacceptable. Kaspersky Lab became one of the founders of the international Coalition Against Stalkerware and a partner in the German research project DeStalk, which trains specialists in violence services. Together we have developed the TinyCheck tool and are planning to further develop this area - including in Russian NGOs, "added Maria Losyukova, Head of Sustainable Development Projects at Kaspersky Lab.

For July 2022, European law enforcement and judicial agencies are testing TinyCheck to use the device in the future during the collection of testimony to help victims.