People who are worried about the government spying on them will be happy to hear about a new app designed to scan their computers for surveillance spyware.
Amnesty International launched the free app, called Detekt, on Thursday as a tool activists and journalists can use to see if their PCs are being monitored without them knowing about it, according to The Guardian.
Marek Marczynski, head of military, security and police at Amnesty, refers to the governments' use of such sophisticated technology as a "cowardly attempt" to keep abuses of power secret.
"Detekt is a simple tool that will alert activists to such intrusions so they can take action," Marczynski added.
Claudio Guarnieri, a security researcher from Germany, is responsible for developing the app, CNET reported. Amnesty said spyware could still be present on a computer even if Detekt doesn't find any, and recommends that if spyware is detected, users should disconnect their computers from the Internet and find an expert to help improve security.
Amnesty teamed up with three three civil rights and consumer protection organizations from around the world for the app's launch. These organizations are Digitale Gesellschaft from Germany, Electronic Frontier Foundation from the U.S. and Privacy International from the U.K.
Marczynski said Detekt can help keep spyware from being used to violate human rights, as well enforce new, stricter rules on their use, The Guardian reported.
Amnesty is teaming up with activists around the world to promote its new app, which Marczynski says, "represents a strike back against governments who are using information obtained through surveillance to arbitrarily detain, illegally arrest and even torture human rights defenders and journalists."
