USA Today: Cheatin’ hearts pump up economy on Valentine’s Day
USA Today reports on the use of spyware, easy to conceal surveillance equipment. Spyware includes: tiny cameras; hidden microphones; key loggers (software that tracks keys typed in order to get passwords or other data); GPS-tracking devices (which track your physical location); and wi-fi interception (which monitors your online activities). A recent Department of Justice report revealed electronic monitoring is increasingly being used by stalkers against their victims. I have written before about spyware and how targets of such tracking are starting to use counter-surveillance technologies.
USA Today focuses on the increased sales of spyware around Valentine’s Day:
Sales of spyware to track spouses — his customer service representatives talk with buyers about how they’ll use the items — were 141% higher in the past four weeks than the monthly average for the preceding six months, says Todd Morris, CEO of BrickHouse Security.
Such devices, retailing for $50 to $400, include cameras hidden in alarm clocks, light scanners to detect evidence of sexual activity and devices to monitor e-mail.
Morris says he expected more people to stay home with their spouses in a weak economy, but sales suggest otherwise. “Apparently,” he says, “money troubles don’t stop the philandering.”
February 13th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
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