pcTattleTale stalkerware maker sentence includes fine, supervised release

Bryan Fleming won’t face prison time for a count to which he pled guilty in January, in a rare case of a successful U.S. stalkerware prosecution.

A federal judge has sentenced the maker of stalkerware pcTattleTale, which went out of business after a data breach, to supervised release and a $5,000 fine.

Bryan Fleming pleaded guilty in January to a charge of intentionally manufacturing, possessing or selling a device with the knowledge that it would be primarily used for surreptitious interception of communications. On Friday, a judge handed down Fleming’s sentence.

It was the first stalkerware conviction since 2014, when the maker of StealthGenie, pled guilty and also didn’t serve prison time, instead receiving a $500,000 fine from the court.

According to Fleming’s plea agreement, his incriminating activity began as early as 2017, as the owner of Fleming Technologies LLC.

“Defendant’s software enabled buyers to covertly and remotely monitor a victim’s cellular telephone and computer activities, including, texts, emails, phone calls, geo-location, and web browsing,” the agreement states. “Defendant began directly advertising his spying software to persons wanting to spy on spouses or partners without their knowledge.”

It continued: “Defendant’s spying software covertly created a video every time a victim’s device was used, which captured any and all activity occurring on the device. The person monitoring the device could log into a remote dashboard and monitor the activity on the victim’s device.”

An undercover agent from Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, posed as a marketing affiliate and customer to communicate with Fleming, according to a 2022 indictment.

pcTattletale went out of business in 2024 after suffering a data breach. Researchers have found that stalkerware apps often fail to protect personal information collected during their use.

An attorney for Fleming didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.

Government

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure