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Fighting stalkerware is difficult. You might not suspect it’s there. Even if you did, it can be difficult to detect as the antivirus is just starting to mark these apps as malicious.

Here is a guide on how tracking software works, what to watch out for and what to do about it.

Different Types of Stalkerware

Surveillance software has proliferated on computers for decades, but recently spyware manufacturers have shifted their focus to mobile devices. Apps have become known as tracking software as mobile devices have access to more private data such as photos, real-time location, phone calls and messages.

Various tracking software applications collect different types of information. Some record phone calls, some record keystrokes, and others track location or upload photos of a person to a remote server. But they all generally work the same way: An abusive lover with access to the victim’s device installs the app on the phone and disguises the software as an ordinary piece of software, such as a calendar app.

From there, the app hides in the background and then the exploiter retrieves the data. Sometimes the information is sent to the abuser’s email address or can be downloaded from a website. In other scenarios, abusers who know their romantic partner’s password can easily unlock the device to open the tracking software and review the recorded data.

Self Defense Steps

So what to do? The Coalition Against Stalkerware, founded by Ms. Galperin and other groups, and several security firms offered these tips:

• Look for unusual behavior on your devicelike a rapidly draining battery. This can be a gift where a tracker app is constantly running in the background.

• Scan your device. Some applications such as MalwareBytes, Certo, NortonLifeLock, and Lookout can detect tracker software. But to be thorough, take a close look at your apps to see if anything is unknown or suspicious. If you find a piece of spyware, pause before deleting it: If you decide to report the abuse to law enforcement, this can be useful evidence.

• seek help. In addition to reporting stalking behavior to law enforcement, you can seek advice from: resources as National Domestic Violence Hotline or Safety Net Project Hosted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

• Check your online accounts To see which apps and devices are connected to them. On Twitter, for example, you can click the “security and account access” button in the settings menu to see which devices and apps have access to your account. Sign out of anything that looks shady.

• Change your passwords and password. It is always safer to change passwords for important online accounts and avoid reusing passwords across sites. Try creating long, complex passwords for each account. Similarly, make sure your password is hard for someone to guess.

• Enable two-factor authentication. For any online account that offers this, use: two factor authenticationrequires your identity to be verified in two ways before allowing you to log into an account. Let’s say you entered your username and password for your Facebook account. This is Step 1. Facebook then asks you to enter a temporary code generated by an authentication app. This is Step 2. With this protection, even if an abuser finds your password using a piece of tracking software, they cannot log in without this code.

• Check your settings on iPhones. A new tracker application, WebWatcher, uses a computer. download a backup copy wirelessly According to Certo, a mobile security firm, the victim’s iPhone data To defend yourself, open the Settings app and look in the General menu to see if “iTunes Wi-Fi Sync” is turned on. Disabling this prevents WebWatcher from copying your data.

  Apple said this is not considered an iPhone vulnerability, as it requires an attacker to be on the same Wi-Fi network and have physical access to the victim’s unlocked iPhone.

• Start fresh. Wiping all data on your phone to buy a new phone or start over is the most effective way to get rid of a spyware device.

• Update your software. Apple and Google regularly release software updates containing security fixes that can remove tracking software. Make sure you are running the latest software.

In the end, there is no real way to defeat stalkerware. NortonLifeLock principal investigator Kevin Roundy said he has reported more than 800 trackers in the Android app store. Google removed the apps and Updated its policy in October to prohibit developers from providing tracking software.

But more emerged to take their place.

“There are certainly very dangerous, alarming possibilities,” said Mr Roundy. “It will continue to be a concern.”