"Spyware maker pcTattletale says it’s ‘out of business’ and shuts down after data breach" 28 May 2024

The founder of the spyware app pcTattletale said his company is “out of business and completely done” following a data breach over the weekend.

The shutdown comes days after a hacker defaced the spyware maker’s website and published links containing large amounts of data from pcTattletale’s servers, including databases of customers’ information and some victims’ stolen data.

pcTattletale was a remote surveillance app — often known as “stalkerware” for its ability to track people without their knowledge — that allowed the person who planted the app to remotely view screenshots of the victim’s Android or Windows device and its private data from anywhere in the world. pcTattletale advertised its spyware app as a way to monitor employees, but also openly promoted its ability to snoop on spouses and domestic partners without their consent, which is illegal. 

The now-defunct app had 138,000 customers who had signed up to use the service, per data breach notification site Have I Been Pwned...

...The app’s founder, Bryan Fleming, told TechCrunch in a text message on Tuesday that he no longer has access to the company’s Amazon Web Services account...

...It looks as if Amazon may have taken action against the spyware maker. The Amazon S3 storage server that pcTattletale used to store device screenshots now reads “AllAccessDisabled,” an error code that Amazon uses to block all access to a customer’s account, including the customer, whose only recourse is to contact Amazon “for further assistance.” However, Fleming would not address the question of whether AWS had shut it down, and AWS spokesperson Grant Milne would not say, either...