'Phone Creeper' is Creepy

Some one was asking questions on how to do some of these things in the MSDN forums a few months ago. It was a question for which it appeared most were not willing to answer; such a program just seems like it would be used for nefarious purposes more than anything else.

Oh goodie, spyware for Windows Mobile phones! I wasn't too fond of xda-developers and now they are really dead to me. I can't trust them anymore.

BE AWARE OF NEW ROMS LOL.
wow this one goes in the books for the best apps for the biggest losers.

@Ed:

I'm anti-piracy and that's something taken loosely in xda-devs. I don't care if a WinMo license costs $10 or $1000. Whenever you put a ROM of an OS version higher than what your phone manufacturer is offering, that's piracy - period. Do you assume that because your PC came with Windows Vista you are entitled to Windows 7 for free? You are not, just like you are not entitled to WinMo 6.1 or 6.5 on a device that came with an earlier version of the OS.

Microsoft and HTC don't go against xda-devs because they know it'll hurt their sales if they did, but neither MS nor HTC are that happy with what happens over there.

Now on top of that, you can't trust those "cooked" ROM's that could be hiding spyware like PhoneCreeper, which could as well silently sent them an SMS with your phone number once installed so someone can gain control of your phone. Thanks but no thanks. I get my productivity from sources that can be trusted.

It's obvious that chetstriker is Batman and he is building a cell phone powered high frequency echolocation spy network. Everyone should load this on their phones if you want Gotham City saved.

Being the author of the mentioned application, I would invite anyone worried about the intent of this application and how it may affect the sense of security in installing custom ROMS from any of the many great developers at XDA. To please go to my site and read the ethical statement I have posted. It will address many of these fears. I do slightly regret the idea that my application may put any sense of mistrust in XDA or its wonderful development community. The people who have been putting all their hard work and time into streamlining the operating systems settings and applications for your ROMS that fix various bugs and issues our OEMs don't care to take care of. These are not the kind of people who are going to try and take advantage of you. Our reputations are on the line for everything we publish and the energy that goes into creating a clean, professional releases (for free) is not something anyone at XDA would squander by hiding malicious software into our products.

With all due respect to chetstriker and others involved, I have always been wary of cooked ROMs for several reasons. Not the least of being the possibility of hidden malware, be it software to turn my data connection into a spam spewing zombie or worse spyware that leads to identity theft. While I am sure most chef's are honorable and trustworthy, they are also human and can be lead astray by cooking a trojan into their ROMs, either knowingly or worse unknowingly. Now, I am sure there will be those that will point out that the technology to spy on our handsets already exists and is used on a daily basis. However, that can't be used to logically rationalize a lessened state of dilligence and responsibility in our community. Windows mobile has enjoyed a relatively malware and landmine free existance that its big brothers can only dream of. I for one hope it stays that way.

I am a die hard WinMo user and I am currently using an XDA cooked WinMo 6.1 ROM. Personally, I believe that WinMo is the best mobile OS when it comes to customizing via hacks and tweeks (the introduction of the open source Android might change that). If anyone thinks for even a second that Microsoft and HTC do not (behind the scenes, of course) support the development of cooked ROMs you are insane. From the surveys (although unscientific) that I have seen on this site and others regarding WinMo users, the majority would probably not be using the OS if not for the availability of cooked ROMs, myself included. Sites like XDA and MoDaCo do a whole lot more than simply cooking up the various versions of WinMo. They provide the myriad upgrades that the manufacturers seem to neglect.

I am getting my first Android device this coming week (to hold me over until the TP2 arrives) and the first thing I will do is flash it with a custom ROM. And when the TP2 is released in the US, the first thing I will do with that is flash WinMo 6.5 on it. Remember, Microsoft doesn't actually sell Windows Mobile to consumers. I don't think Microsoft or HTC cares if I remove the (paid for) version that came with my phone for a cooked version. Essentially, when I purchase a phone I purchase the OS with it. Since Microsoft, HTC and my phone company won't (or can't) seem to get out much needed upgrades, the programming community has taken it upon themselves to do it for them. There is no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever, that MS and HTC support the cooking of ROMs. It is free advertising for them and keeps many using WinMo when they might have gone elsewhere.

It is nowhere near the same as pirating Windows 7 because I bought Windows Vista. Microsoft clearly sells the upgrade and it is ultra-clear that they intend people to pay for the upgrade. There is no suck stipulation with WinMo. There is a clear difference. As for the program in this post, it actually sounds useful. I think I will check it out for my phone. If it gets lost or stolen I can track it. It's all about marketing. There is a BlackBerry program/service similar to this program. With the BlackBerry, people tout is as a great program. With XDA, people are quick to vilify.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I will enjoy my kids today and take pictures of them on my cooked up WinMo 6.1 device. ;)

Wow,,,,, that sux,,, this is actually kind of disturbing. I know no xda developers gives a care about my boring sms but it makes you wonder where this is heading. I think I may not hack my devices anymore :(

i personally see no good reason for such a creepy app, with all due respect chetstriker. just spying plain a simple, which is wrong.

on the piracy comment, I think the analogy to PC's is not appropriate here; MS doesn't offer free upgrades from XP to Vista, while it does it _freely_ from WinMo6.0 to WinMo6.1, and will certainly do the same for WinMo6.5.
I've been visiting XDA 2 or 3 times daily for about 2 years now, and there is absolutely no tolerance for warez and pirated software.

on the noob issue; XDA is full of experienced users who would be happy to take on a new challenge, but new users who are not familiar with XDA, think it is a regular Q&A forum, and through in simple questions like "how do i mute the ringer on my phone?" that have known answers all over the place, that could've been answered with a quick search. flaming has been an issue before, but it has gone down recently thx to moderators who are trying their best to control it.

cooked roms and spyware: i think it all depends on trust. if you don't trust chefs, don't do it. i do. when i see that someone has been cooking roms for years and years, and nobody ever complained of spyware in his rom, that's a good indication that he is trustworthy to me.

all in all, i think XDA i personally is a v. highly skilled group that are great for the winmo community, again personally.

yall love to live in fear.
so...aparently you need the persons telephone number to this. dont give out your number.
this is good for lost and stolen phones, corporate phones, child monitoring and...governmental uses (though they have their own).
good work!

Use of this application does have serious legal implications. Reference the following U.S. statute:

The Wiretap Statute 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq is title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. It makes it illegal for anyone to intercept or disclose intercepted telephone communications, unless so ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

In the event that your phone is stolen, it does not matter that the phone is yours and that someone else now has possession of it. It would still be illegal to eavesdrop on the conversations without at least one consenting party and/or court order.

I doubt the court would have a problem with this application to be run to find a stolen phone.

So, now it's public. Isn't it better, if such an app exists and people are aware of possible security problems?
WinMo's biggest advantage is also it's biggest problem: You can do almost everything (if there's an API and you know of it. And while I miss several unified API's, for this tasks there are a lot, and even well documented). Writing something like that isn't that hard to do. Though there might be some tweaks included to hide it better than I might be able to do it. So I think, better a public app and public sensitivity than an unknown troyan in some app or ROM.

i doubt using this app would be considered a wiretap.. for one there is consent im the owner and i consent to my phone being called.. if you happen to get picked up on my legal phone call because you illegally moved my phone thats your fault, i never asked you to posses my property and did not willingly record you.. and there is a zero percent chance this will get put in any roms.. people test an rip apart all new roms on play phones with no service.. the best roms have thousands of dls with no complaints and plently of public tear downs.. the chefs encourage criticism and love it when people pick their work apart.. microsoft and htc upgrade phones for free and promise in advance to upgrade, so this is not piracy when a company promises you somthing than leaks an early version to you so you can test it than gives you the final version for free

Thanks for the post. This is all very interesting for windows mobile development and this is something we should follow. Thanks again.

I could easily use the voice recorder on my phone to record a conversation by someone who borrows my phone to make a call. It is not illegal to have voice recorder on my phone -so having the app on my phone is not illegal.

Secondly, and most importantly. What DA is gonna prosecute me for spying on the person who stole my device. I have rights, and no jury is gonna convict me of that -well maybe a jury in San Francisco.

I do have the right to protect my property and that's a constitutional right. My phone is my property. My company phone is the companies property.

Finally according to your way of thinking. If a terrorists activates a bomb using an SMS enabled device or voice activated smartphone device using any home phone or another persons cell phone. It would not be admissable in court because there was no wire-tapping court order prior to the call. If that's true.....that's creepier than this app by light-years.

If your worried about Creeper or a similar "sms-based" kind of control program ... all you really need to do is put your sim in a normal phone/another phone - and if anyone sends an sms command - *BEEP* *BEEP* there it is ! You even have their phone number - now lets call the authorities and jail them !

So I think a Cooker would be extremely stupid to put Creeper into their ROMS - they'd have the police at their own door in a matter of a few days! lol

Best way to find if you have some undiscovered malware (my opinion) is to use a port+file+process monitor - to see which files change and and which ports are accessed suspiciously. You can go further, try finding suspicious packets using a packet inspector.

Anything suspicious - I'm sure u can find quite quickly - or eventually. I mean come on... it should be easy right? for people who have the brain to figure out complex instructions of how to flash upgrade their phones with SPLs then their ROMs, etc, etc - not to mention go through the risk of bricking their phones too. Should be a doddle for them! And, for most parts, those are the only people at risk really (i.e. thone ones that use Cooked roms).

And as far very few people who dislike XDA-developers, well they are the very same people who benefit from XDA-developers indirectly anyway. Mainly, because it is one of the most well-established sites that brings all the users-and-critcs of WM powered phones together - thus bringing great and powerful ideas together ... the same benefits that you later ... in your stock roms later on! (without the hassel of risking your own phone being bricked).

And dont forget, XDA-developers is not just a site, its a community.

The only think I have against them is their out-dated layout - com'on guys - its a crime! ( Then again, retro looks are coming back these days :P )

for free sms, pl purchase tata docomo sim, which is free, then send first three messages which are chargeable, then send 100 sms which are free, first three sms charge for rs 1.60 , this 100 sms are free for every day, thank you, have nice day.