VietNamNet Bridge – The Ha Noi Investigation Police on Wednesday requested the Supreme People's Procuracy to prosecute seven people from a private firm who sold illegal spyware.

The accused worked for Viet Hong Technology Company Limited, and were named as deputy director Nguyen Viet Hung, 41; Le Thanh Lam, 33; Nguyen Van Tuan, 27; Le Si Phan, 27; Nguyen Ngoc Kieu, 29; Tran Minh Ngoc, 25; and Nguyen Thi Nga, 25.

The request was made after the police, in co-operation with inspectors from the Department of Information and Communications, concluded a six-month investigation into the company.

The results of the investigation revealed that Viet Hong Technology Company Limited, based in Ha Noi's Thanh Xuan District, had developed and sold two types of mobile spyware - the Ptracker app for individuals and the PtrackerERP app for businesses - since June, 2013.

The apps allow users to track other people's Android phones, read their SMS messages and contact lists and record their phone calls without their knowledge.

The app can even turn on features like the camera, 3G or GPRS connections of the target devices from the tracker phone.

The stolen information was archived on Viet Hong's servers and accessed by using a paid account to log in to the company's website.

At the time of investigation, 7,447 subscribers to the illegal service were still registered in the company's servers, and about 600 accounts were valid, he said.

Le Hong Son, chief of the Ha Noi Police Department's Hi-Tech Crimes Division, said since the company launched the apps, it had provided Ptracker to 14,140 subscribers and earned about VND900 million (US$43,000). Most of the subscribers were spying on the private lives of other individuals.

VNS