Background: Stalkerware is 'software made available directly to individuals, that enables a remote user to monitor the activities on another user’s device without that user’s consent and without explicit, persistent notification to that user in order to intentionally or unintentionally facilitate intimate partner surveillance, harassment, abuse, stalking, and/or violence’. Stalkerware seems to be an underestimated global problem: actually, it is a very serious and growing issue. Based on Kaspersky statistics, stalkerware is of growing interest to malicious users. The number of our users facing stalkerware rose by 67% in 2019, a trend that concerned a large number of countries. Although there is a need for more research on the gender nature of stalkerware use, the available data paints a clear picture that the main victims of technology-facilitated abuse are women, while those doing the abusing are mainly men. To tackle this issue, 10 organizations launched in November 2019 a global initiative called the Coalition Against Stalkerware: www.stopstalkerware.org.
Objectives: In this IGF 2020 session, members of Coalition Against Stalkerware and stakeholders from other organizations will discuss the problem of stalkerware, and how it might be addressed by all actors including the civil society, researchers, government authorities and law enforcement agencies. The event aims to inform about the problem of stalkerware, discuss possibilities to raise awareness toward it, but also help users protect themselves, and identify new fields for multistakeholder activities.
Format: The event will be marked by a high-level panel gathering stakeholders from different regions and different horizons, including:
- Private Sector: Christina Jankowski; Kaspersky (Germany)
- Civil Society: Rachel Gibson, Senior Technology Safety Specialist, National Network to End Domestic Violence (USA)
- Tech Community: Sanjana Rathi, Research Analyst, Cyber Peace Foundation (India)
- Intergovernmental organization: Philipp Amann, Head of Strategy, Europol European Cybercrime Center EC3 (Netherlands)
- Moderator: Arnaud Dechoux, Kaspersky (France)
- Demo: Felix Aimé, Kaspersky GReAT (France)
Through the use of interactive tools, participants will have the opportunity to raise questions and share thoughts. The expected outcome of the session is to have concrete ideas for future activities to mitigate the risks arising from stalkerware, to attract possible partners for cooperation, and to create awareness raising activities.
We look forward to discussing with you this important topic on November 2!
