Kaspersky unveiled
a new online hub dedicated to
TinyCheck, its free, open-source tool designed to detect stalkerware on mobile
devices. The website will highlight
TinyCheck's latest developments and help further consolidate the community of
stakeholders engaged in the development of the tool and the fight against
stalkerware and spyware.
TinyCheck was created in 2019,
following a discussion between Kaspersky and a French women's shelter. The
organization was supporting an increasing number of stalkerware victims, but
was not sure how to address the issue from a technological point of view. They
needed a solution that would be untraceable, easy to use and that could help
gather evidence. Researchers from Kaspersky set out to find a solution.
They developed TinyCheck as a
free, open-source tool,
meaning anyone can download it and contribute to improving the software.
TinyCheck is not installed onto a smart phone, but uses a separate external
device instead: a Raspberry Pi microcomputer. TinyCheck aims to facilitate the
detection of stalkerware on a victim's device in a simple, quick, and
non-invasive way. It can run on any OS without alerting the perpetrator.
TinyCheck is safe to use, doesn't read the contents of a person's
communications (SMS, emails, etc.), but only interacts with the online
servers/IPs the smartphone communicates with. In other words, TinyCheck will
not know who a person is speaking with, or what they are discussing. The
network capture of an analyzed device is not shared anywhere: neither Kaspersky
nor any other party will receive this data. All the analysis is done locally.
Over the years, more and more
NGOs have been testing and implementing TinyCheck.
"I have been working with
gender violence associations for many years and TinyCheck is what the victims
and the general population need," said Bruno Pérez Juncá, honorary member of
the Stop Gender Violence Association. "TinyCheck is similar to an antigens
test; a quick, economic and reliable test to perform an initial inspection that
can identify a mobile infection."
More recently, TinyCheck has also
caught the attention of European Institutions, journalists, and businesses. Law
enforcement agencies and judiciary bodies in Europe are currently testing it to
better support victims in the process of a deposition or an investigation.
The TinyCheck hub, which goes live today, is a great
place to visit, learn more about the tool and its applications, and to reach
out to the team to contribute toward its development. Kaspersky is always on
the lookout for new partners to raise awareness of the important topics of
stalkerware and spyware, and to find new ways to benefit its victims.
For more information about
TinyCheck, please visit: www.tiny-check.com