The Many Kinds of Creepware Used for Interpersonal Attacks

Explore the landscape of creepware used for interpersonal attacks in this 16-minute IEEE conference talk. Delve into the research conducted on over 50 million Android devices, uncovering a wide range of malicious applications designed for stalking, harassment, impersonation, fraud, and information theft. Learn about the innovative CreepRank algorithm, which utilizes the principle of guilt by association to identify previously unknown creepware. Discover the various categories of creepware, including apps for spoofing, harassment, and control, as well as those claiming to protect victims. Gain insights into the ongoing research questions and open problems in this field, and understand how this study has already led to the removal of hundreds of apps from the Google Play Store for policy violations. Examine the broader implications of this research for mitigating technology-facilitated interpersonal attacks and improving online safety.

Intro
Intimate Partner Violence is Pervasive
How Does Technology Enable Intimate Partner Violence?
Discovering the mobile apps that enable abuse
Goals and Outline
Background
Datasets and Representation
CreepRank Overview
Adding FP Prevention with Prior Belief
Comparison to Random Walk with Restart
CreepRank False Positives
Spoofing Creepware
Harassment Creepware
Control Creepware
Ongoing Research Questions and Open Problems