{“lastseen”:”2026-01-09T16:05:12″,”description”:”Reportedly, pcTattletale founder Bryan Fleming has pleaded guilty in US federal court to computer hacking, unlawfully selling and advertising spyware, and conspiracy.\\n\\nThis is good news not just because we despise stalkerware like pcTattletale, but because it is only the second US federal stalkerware prosecution in a decade. It could could open the door to further cases against people who develop, sell, or promote similar tools.\\n\\nIn 2021, we reported that \u201cemployee and child-monitoring\u201d software vendor pcTattletale had not been very careful about securing the screenshots it secretly captured from victims\u2019 phones. A security researcher testing a trial version discovered that the app uploaded screenshots to an unsecured online database, meaning anyone could view them without authentication, such as a username and password.\\n\\nIn 2024, we revisited the app after researchers found it was once again leaking a database containing victim screenshots. One researcher discovered that pcTattletale\u2019s Application Programming Interface (API) allowed anyone to access the most recent screen capture recorded from any device on which the spyware is installed. Another researcher uncovered a separate vulnerability that granted full access to the app\u2019s backend infrastructure. That access allowed them to deface the website and steal AWS credentials, which turned out to be shared across all devices. As a result, the researcher obtained data about both victims and the customers who were doing the tracking.\\n\\nThis is no longer possible. Not because the developers fixed the problems, but because Amazon locked pcTattletale\u2019s entire AWS infrastructure. Fleming later abandoned the product and deleted the contents of its servers.\\n\\nHowever, Homeland Security Investigations had already started investigating pcTattletale in June 2021 and did not stop. A few things made Fleming stand out among other stalkerware operators. While many hide behind overseas shell companies, Fleming appeared to be proud of his work. And while others market their products as parental control or employee monitoring tools, pcTattletale explicitly promoted spying on romantic partners and spouses, using phrases such as \u201ccatch a cheater\u201d and \u201csurreptitiously spying on spouses and partners.\u201d This made it clear the software was designed for non-consensual surveillance of adults.\\n\\nFleming is expected to be sentenced later this year.\\n\\n## Removing stalkerware\\n\\nMalwarebytes, as one of the founding members of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, makes it a priority to detect and remove stalkerware-type apps from your device. \\n\\nIt is important to keep in mind, however, that removing stalkerware may alert the person spying on you that the app has been discovered. The Coalition Against Stalkerware outlines additional steps and considerations to help you decide the safest next move. \\n\\nBecause the apps often install under different names and hide themselves from users, they can be difficult to find and remove. That is where Malwarebytes can help you.\\n\\n**To scan your device:**\\n\\n 1. Open your Malwarebytes dashboard\\n 2. Start a **Scan**\\n\\n\\n\\nThe scan may take a few minutes.\\n\\nIf malware is detected, you can choose one of the following actions:\\n\\n * **Uninstall**. The threat will be deleted from your device.\\n * **Ignore Always**. The file detection will be added to the Allow List, and excluded from future scans. Legitimate files are sometimes detected as malware. We recommend reviewing scan results and adding files to Ignore Always that you know are safe and want to keep.\\n * **Ignore Once** : The detection is ignored for this scan only. It will be detected again during your next scan.\\n\\n\\n\\nMalwarebytes detects pcTattleTale as PUP.Optional.PCTattletale.\\n\\n* * *\\n\\n**We don\u2019t just report on threats\u2014we remove them**\\n\\nCybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.”,”published”:”2026-01-09T15:41:07″,”modified”:”2026-01-09T15:41:07″,”type”:”malwarebytes”,”title”:”pcTattletale founder pleads guilty as US cracks down on stalkerware”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”MALWAREBYTES:FA4AD11DD3390319DC8F3855C6965C02″,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/news\/2026\/01\/pctattletale-founder-pleads-guilty-as-us-cracks-down-on-stalkerware”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{“lastseen”:”2026-01-09T16:05:12″,”description”:”Reportedly, pcTattletale founder Bryan Fleming has pleaded guilty in US federal court to computer hacking, unlawfully selling and advertising spyware, and conspiracy.\\n\\nThis is good news…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,8,12,115,13,33,7,11,5],"class_list":["post-34902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category_news","tag-cve","tag-cvss","tag-exploit","tag-malwarebytes","tag-news","tag-none","tag-security","tag-tapic","tag-vulnerability"],"yoast_head":"\n