

The chief executive officer of a mobile spyware maker was arrested over the weekend, charged with allegedly illegally marketing an app that monitors calls, texts, videos, and other communications on mobile phones "without detection," federal prosecutors said.

The government said the prosecution [PDF] of Hammad Akbar, 31, of Pakistan, was the "first-ever" case surrounding advertising and the sales of mobile spyware targeting adults—in this case an app called StealthGenie.

“Selling spyware is not just reprehensible, it’s a crime,” 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."

The government said that Akbar, as CEO of InvoCode that marketed the spyware online, produced an app that works on the Blackberry, the iPhone, and phones running Android. Akbar is accused of conspiracy, sale of a surreptitious interception device, advertisement of a known interception device, and advertising a device as a surreptitious interception device. He was arrested in Los Angeles on Saturday. The spyware was hosted on servers run by Amazon Web Services in Ashburn, Virginia, the government said.

According to the government:

The indictment alleges that StealthGenie’s capabilities included the following: it recorded all incoming/outgoing voice calls; it intercepted calls on the phone to be monitored while they take place; it allowed the purchaser to call the phone and activate it at any time to monitor all surrounding conversations within a 15-foot radius; and it allowed the purchaser to monitor the user’s incoming and outgoing e-mail messages and SMS messages, incoming voicemail messages, address book, calendar, photographs, and videos. All of these functions were enabled without the knowledge of the user of the phone.

The government said those communications could be monitored in real time.

The app, which the government said took minutes to install, required "physical control" of the phone.

"The purchaser could then review communications intercepted from the monitored phone without ever again having physical control over the phone," the government said.

While parents may use surveillance software to monitor their minor children's mobile phones, InvoCode also marketed the spyware to "potential purchasers who did not have any ownership interest in the mobile phone to be monitored, including those suspecting a spouse or romantic partner of infidelity."