Why Spyware Programs Are A Big Threat To Mobile Security?

Updated October 6, 2023
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Spyware—the word itself is foreboding. Still, spyware apps, under the guise of concerned monitoring, are totally legal within the US. Yes, knowing at all times whether your spouse, child or, any loved one, is doing fine is a great benefit. However, at the same time, having said phone spying tools available for anyone to buy can leave your mobile security with nothing but loopholes.

In this article, we are going to discuss how these “legal” spyware programs are the biggest threat to phone security. So, we will use the XNSPY monitoring app as an example at every interval to let you know how its features can be used for all the wrong reasons. Then, we will talk about how easy it is for the tracking app sellers to walk away from the security breaches their services pose. In the end, we will also summarize today’s article for better understanding.

Extremely High Possibility of Illegal Monitoring

As we have already mentioned, spyware apps being sold legally impose a great threat to everyone’s privacy and phone security. Because it allows anyone with the means to buy their subscriptions to snoop into your smartphone.

For example, XNSPY subscriptions can go as low as USD 4.99. So, it’s rather easy for anyone to purchase its basic version and use some of its various features to spy on you.

Mostly, parents buy these tracking apps to monitor their children’s phones. But, who knows, the next person buying this spying tool could be a child predator. They could use it to spy on your kids. So, a tool that was supposed to protect your children could be used as a weapon against them.

Now let’s say, what if a jealous spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend is intent on keeping an eye on you? They can buy one of these apps and track your every move without your knowledge. One does not have to know a single thing about hacking and still get all the information they need.

Again, for example, XNSPY can keep track of the target device’s location through GPS tracking and even generate a location history. So, anyone using the app to stalk you will know what places you visit regularly, and much more. This can help your stalker to follow you around like a hawk and you might never know.

The other purpose for promoting such apps is employee monitoring. And we all know how companies can go overboard with this. When do they know it’s okay to monitor their employees and when to stop. A superior with malicious intentions can use it to harass or embarrass a junior-level staff member.

Let’s say, if your employer is using the XNSPY monitoring tool without your consent, they can use its IMs spying feature to know who you were talking to over Skype, Facebook Messenger, or even Tinder. Intimate details of your personal life could be shared with others to defame you. And you will never know.

There are reasons upon reasons on how spyware programs can be abused.

But, all of this is possible because selling phone spying apps, as monitoring tools without any verifications, is totally legit.

How Do Phone Monitoring Apps Become Legal?

Spy Apps

You might laugh out at how easy it is for the monitoring app providers to waive off responsibility for their services’ misuse. All they have to do is put up a disclaimer on their website. What does the disclaimer entail?

It explains how:

  • It is up to the buyer to use the spyware app responsibly.
  • The buyer needs to inform the person whose phone is going to be monitored about everything beforehand.
  • The seller can never be liable for any legal repercussions because the buyer is accepting all the terms and security risks with the app’s purchase.

XNSPY phone monitoring app is a perfect example again. Because concerned parents and employers looking for a monitoring tool often use its services.

Spy Apps Operate Silently in the Background

The biggest threat can be presented with these apps’ ability to work in complete stealth mode. You don’t even know they are loaded on your smartphone and activated. Yes, your phone will be overworked. If it’s an Android device, it might freeze at times. But you will not know why your phone is acting up.

For example, after its installation on any compatible Android phone or iPhone, the XNSPY app is running in the background and using constant resources to spy on different activities on the monitored phone. It’s completely shrouded. It passes along all the details from the call monitoring such as missed, dialed, and received calls with their time and date stamps. It can even go through your texts and IMs. Anyone monitoring your phone can then view them all.

Most people use social media apps on their phones and spend a lot of time on them. While it silently monitors their app usage in detail. So, if the app is being misused, anything you communicate through direct messages (DMs) of your social media accounts is not safe either.

Many people get robbed of their credit card information purchasing things online using their phones. Because they are not careful and feel secure and completely safe. While totally ignoring the fact that someone might be using these spying apps and snooping into their mobiles.

Monitoring Apps Are Not at Fault, Say the Company Owners

Now, let’s change our perspective a little bit and see how the tracking service providers think as well. They just want to help people worried about their loved ones, or provide companies a tool that pushes employees to be more productive.

They are trying to be helpful in the best way possible.

During a Zoom conversation with the founder of Xnspy, Sean said: “We do our best to apply all protocols and keep the monitored data encrypted.” And then, further added: “But we cannot be responsible for how the software is being used because there’s just no foolproof way of knowing who is buying our service.”

In the end, the debate once again points towards a person’s involvement in all this. If someone uses it for all the good reasons, a monitoring app can be of great help. However, if a spyware program is misused, it can become a powerful weapon to bring down your phone’s security. So, what can we do? Will someone be able to help us resolve this issue?

For the time being, nothing can be said for sure. All we can do is hope that people will act responsibly and never use phone spyware apps with the wrong intentions. While we all know the probability of such a thing happening is very low—almost impossible.