Skip to main content

Woburn, MA – April 21, 2021 – The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) announced plans to support the global law enforcement community in its efforts to investigate the use of stalkerware and to support victims in need of assistance. With the move, INTERPOL joined Kaspersky, a founding member of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, and several other organizations, in the effort to combat the use of the malicious software.

Stalkerware is commercial software that allows perpetrators to secretly monitor others through their devices. Considered by experts to be a form of violence, it has become a real and rapidly evolving threat, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTERPOL will promote training sessions developed by the Coalition Against Stalkerware to its 194 member countries, enhancing their ability to investigate the use of stalkerware, support victims requesting assistance, and hold perpetrators accountable.

Scale of the issue

Domestic violence has intensified since the outbreak of the pandemic, with the United Nations calling violence against women during COVID-19, a “shadow pandemic.”

Partners of the Coalition Against Stalkerware across the world, who work with survivors, also reported a stark increase in domestic violence and tech abuse incidents in 2020. Additionally, Kaspersky detected that almost 54,000 of their mobile users were targeted globally by stalkerware in 2020. Russia, Brazil, the United States, India and Mexico topped the list of countries where users were most impacted.

Global, collective action

Fighting against the multifaceted issue of stalkerware has required global and collective action from cybersecurity vendors, non-governmental organizations, law enforcement, and academia. For this reason, 10 key actors in the global cybersecurity ecosystem, including Kaspersky, 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 toward increasing public awareness around the issue. 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 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 organizations working with survivors of domestic violence and other individuals targeted by stalkerware.

“We understand that all key partners must join together to fight against this pervasive tactic of abuse,” said Tara Hairston, official representative of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, and head of public affairs, North America at Kaspersky. “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. Alongside INTERPOL and our other partners, we will work to ensure nobody has to fall victim to stalkerware again.”

“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, INTERPOL’s director of cybercrime. “To this end, we will continue to raise awareness within the global law enforcement community about intimate partner violence, unwanted surveillance, and abuse.”

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 U.S. National Network to End Domestic Violence, NortonLifeLock, Operation Safe Escape, and WEISSER RING.

About Coalition Against Stalkerware

The Coalition Against Stalkerware (“CAS” or “Coalition”) is a group dedicated to addressing abuse, stalking, and harassment via the creation and use of stalkerware. Currently comprised of direct service and international victim service agencies, as well as information technology security firms, the Coalition looks to bring together a diverse array of organizations to actively address the criminal behavior perpetrated through stalkerware and raise public awareness about this important issue. Due to the high societal relevance for users all over the globe, with new variants of stalkerware emerging periodically, the Coalition Against Stalkerware is open to new partners and calls for cooperation. To find out more about the Coalition Against Stalkerware please visit the official website www.stopstalkerware.org

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at usa.kaspersky.com.

Media Contact

Sawyer Van Horn

sawyer.vanhorn@Kaspersky.com

(781) 503-1866

 

 

INTERPOL joins fight against stalkerware


Kaspersky Logo