PhoneSpector and Highster, two stalkerware apps, seem to have ceased operations following a settlement in New York

It seems that the creators of two phone surveillance businesses have closed down their operations after the owner reached a settlement with the authorities on allegations of unlawfully advertising malware that his company created.

PhoneSpector and Highster were consumer-grade phone monitoring applications that enabled surreptitious surveillance of an individual’s smartphone. Referred to as stalkerware or spouseware, these applications are often installed on an individual’s phone, generally by their spouse or domestic partner, and frequently with knowledge of the device’s password. These applications are specifically built to remain concealed on home screens, making them challenging to locate and uninstall. They continuously transmit the phone’s messages, pictures, and real-time location information to a dashboard that the criminal can access.

Patrick Hinchy, the individual behind a group of technology companies based in New York and Florida, has agreed to pay $410,000 in fines in February 2023. This settlement comes as a result of accusations that Hinchy’s companies engaged in the advertising and aggressive promotion of spyware, which facilitated covert phone surveillance of individuals residing in New York state.

According to New York Attorney General Letitia James, Hinchy’s enterprises used blog articles that expressly promoted the use of malware to secretly monitor their wives’ devices, without their knowledge. As a component of the agreement, Hinchy’s firms agreed to alter the applications in order to notify device owners that their phones had been subjected to surveillance.

Following the resolution, both PhoneSpector and Highster have been disconnected from the internet.

The website of PhoneSpector ceased to load in the weeks after the settlement. The URL currently sends users to an Indonesian lottery website. The website of Highster ceased to load after many months.

The domains, servers, and back-end infrastructure used by PhoneSpector and Highster are now down.

Attempted to contact the customer support of PhoneSpector and Highster by dialing their phone numbers. However, an automatic message informed me that the lines were no longer in operation. A construction company is currently using the office space in Port Jefferson, New York, that belongs to Hinchy’s firms.

Public records searches conducted indicate that the majority of Hinchy’s registered firms in New York and Florida are still operating. However, these companies have not submitted the necessary documentation to the states for many years and are now labeled as “past due” for updates. Governmental authorities frequently demand documentation from businesses every two years or else they risk dissolution.

Hinchy failed to provide any response to many requests for comment . Michael Weinstein, who acted as Hinchy’s representative during the settlement, chose not to provide a statement and instead sent the matter to the New York attorney general’s office.

Delaney Kempner, the communications director for the New York attorney general’s office, did not respond inquiries via email on the settlement. This includes queries about whether Hinchy’s firms fulfilled their obligation to pay the agreed-upon $410,000 penalty. Kempner declined equest for an on-the-record call. Kempner, in an email , said that some recent filings, which were not identified, will provide answers to our particular inquiries about the matter. “I trust that you possess the ability to locate them,” said Kempner.

PhoneSpector and Highster, two stalkerware applications, have just been unavailable due to regulatory measures.

In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission filed charges against Retina-X, a company that develops phone monitoring applications. The charges accused the company of neglecting to ensure that its app was used for lawful and consensual purposes, as well as failing to sufficiently protect the confidential phone data it collected from unsuspecting device owners, following multiple instances of data breaches. Retina-X ultimately ceased operations.

After one year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prohibited SpyFone, a manufacturer of stalkerware, and its CEO, Scott Zuckerman, from the surveillance sector. The FTC also accused the firm of neglecting to safeguard the data it covertly collected from the phones of unsuspecting individuals. Following an investigation, it was discovered that Zuckerman introduced a new application called SpyTrac, which is classified as stalkerware. However, once I reached out to Zuckerman for a statement, SpyTrac was swiftly shut down.