When the iPhone came out, many people believed that it would exist largely immune to the malware that plagues PC based devices.

However, in December, 2008, researchers at Finnish cybersecurity firm F-Secure identified spyware for the iPhone manufactured by Mobile Spy that monitors phone activity.  The company’s website claims that the software “records every SMS and logs every call including phone numbers with durations. View real time results in your private online account.”

The company positions itself as providing a service that has taken the moral high ground, appealing to concerned parents and those suspecting their spouse of cheating.

“Mobile Spy will reveal the truth for any company or family,” the company’s website boasts. “You will finally learn the truth about [your family members' or employees'] call, mobile-Web and text-message activities by logging into your Mobile Spy account from any computer. The world’s first iPhone spy software!”

The Legal Reality Behind Mobile Spyware

Nearly all spyware is used illegally according to experts.

ITProportal wrote, “‘Use of the {spyware} software is almost certain to involve the committing of a criminal act which breaks the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA)’, according to Sue Cullen, an expert in surveillance law at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.”

Anti-Spyware Software for the iPhone

Mobile Spy’s software can be combated with “Virus Barrier”, Intego’s anti-virus program for the Mac.  As of this writing, there is no solution for the PC, as Intego requires users to run the program from their Mac.  However, plans to offer iPhone mobile security software to other platforms may be developed.