The new SpyBuster iOS app scans your iPhone for other apps that may be surreptitiously sending your data to Russia or Belarus.
The privacy-oriented app comes from Ukraine-based developer MacPaw, which released a version of SpyBuster for macOS in the spring of 2021, not long after Russia invaded Ukraine.
SpyBuster app keeps your data safe from Russia
Cult of Mac wrote about SpyBuster when it came out for Macs in March 2022. In June, SpyBuster launched as a Chrome extension. Now a new version of the app does the same job for your iPhone.
“Designed to spot apps that originate from or connect to servers in Russia or Belarus, SpyBuster helps identify and remove unwanted connections on your iPhone,” MacPaw said Tuesday in an article promoting the release.
The company also noted it added SpyBuster’s Static Analysis functionality to its CleanMyMac X utility as part of its Uninstaller module.
How it works on your iPhone
SpyBuster for iOS scans your iPhone for potentially unwanted apps, and alerts you if it finds any. Plus, it tells you why a flagged app is suspicious and explains how to delete the app from your iPhone if you choose to do so.
After you launch the app on your iPhone, it examines executable code and resources of applications on your device for evidence of a potential unwanted relation.
Why use SpyBuster for iOS?
While targeting app connectivity to Russia and Belarus may seem quite specific, MacPaw referred to some good reasons for it.
It points to CNBC reporting on the number of cyberattacks increasing dramatically since Russia started the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
And previously, security experts noted in the Microsoft Digital Defense Report that 53% of all cyberattacks between July 2020 and June 2021 originated in Russia.
Russian attacks focused on various targets in the United States, Ukraine, United Kingdom and NATO-allied countries in Europe.
And that’s not all. MacPaw also noted:
In 2016, Russia adopted legislation that requires telecom providers to store user private data, including the content of voice calls, images, and text messages, for six months. It also orders them to retain metadata like sender and recipient information, send time, and location, for three years.
“If this legislation does not match your personal standard for data privacy, you may want to act,” the company said.
Download from: App Store
