A Danish citizen pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a Virginia court to selling a mobile spyware app that secretly monitored cell phone communications.
Hammad Akbar, 31, is the CEO of InvoCode Pvt. Limited and Cubitium Limited, the companies that advertised and sold StealthGenie, the mobile spyware app that secretly monitored calls, texts and videos on mobile phones, according to a release by the Justice Department.
Akbar has been ordered to pay a fine of $500,000 for advertising and selling the app, a landmark criminal conviction. Once the spyware app is installed on a device, the purchaser could sync up the mobile device's private information to any computer they work from.
“Today's guilty plea by a creator of the StealthGenie spyware is another demonstration of our commitment to prosecuting those who would invade personal privacy,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said.
