{"id":4327,"date":"2025-04-09T10:20:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=4327"},"modified":"2025-04-09T10:20:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:20:26","slug":"what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\/","title":{"rendered":"What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Stalkerware<\/strong> is a type of <a href=\"\/security-center\/spyware.html\"><strong>spyware<\/strong><\/a> designed to secretly monitor someone\u2019s activity on their phone or computer. It can track location, read texts and emails, listen to calls, record keystrokes, and access photos or social media without the victim\u2019s knowledge. Stalkers\u2014often abusive partners or exes\u2014use it to control, intimidate, or spy on their targets. Unlike corporate spyware, stalkerware is marketed for personal use and can be installed quickly if someone has physical access to a device. It&#8217;s invasive, dangerous, and often illegal, and many cybersecurity tools now flag it as a threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stalkerware is a type of spyware designed to secretly monitor someone\u2019s activity on their phone or computer. It can track location, read texts and emails, listen to calls, record keystrokes, and access photos or social media without the victim\u2019s knowledge. Stalkers\u2014often abusive partners or exes\u2014use it to control, intimidate, or spy on their targets. Unlike [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[509],"ht-kb-tag":[544,545,543],"class_list":["post-4327","ht_kb","type-ht_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","ht_kb_category-malware","ht_kb_tag-spyware","ht_kb_tag-stalker","ht_kb_tag-stalkerware"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stalkerware is a type of spyware designed to secretly monitor someone\u2019s activity on their phone or computer. It can track location, read texts and emails, listen to calls, record keystrokes, and access photos or social media without the victim\u2019s knowledge. Stalkers\u2014often abusive partners or exes\u2014use it to control, intimidate, or spy on their targets. Unlike [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antivirus and Security Software FAQs &amp; Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\\\/\",\"name\":\"What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-09T18:20:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/\",\"name\":\"Antivirus and Security Software FAQs & Blog\",\"description\":\"Frequently asked questions about antivirus and security software, and other computer security related issues.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"AntivirusAZ.com FAQs & Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"AntiVirusAZ.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"AntiVirusAZ.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-is-stalkerware-and-how-is-it-used-by-stalkers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is stalkerware, and how is it used by stalkers?","og_description":"Stalkerware is a type of spyware designed to secretly monitor someone\u2019s activity on their phone or computer. 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