Against domestic violence, Yvelines gendarmes test tool to detect spyware

At the entrance to the Family Protection House (MPF) in Bois-d’Arcy, Yvelines, you will be greeted with diet, stuffed animals and coloring. What smooths the way for young children who are victims of serious violence, which welcomes this structure of the gendarmerie.

In the halls of this small brick building with a brand new interior, there is a somewhat peculiar digital tablet. It can detect in minutes whether a phone, other tablet or laptop is infected with known malware.

MPF, staffed by police officers and social workers, cares for a variety of vulnerable groups, from the elderly to young children, including people with disabilities or victims of domestic violence. Especially for the latter, this tablet is used within the MPF. This device, called DULE (“for the detection of spyware”) is deployed in a dozen units of the department’s gendarmerie. A unique experiment in France.

Regularly, women who come to MPF tell of their impression of being watched and of the apparent omniscience of their husbands who can tell where they are, what they are doing, who they are seeing. Until now, it has been difficult to check their phone or computer for the presence of one of the low-level spyware programs that are apparently marketed to monitor a spouse and that abound on the Internet. And for good reason: a telephone forensic examination was required. Long, complicated and uncertain.

“The Missing Link”

This type of software is “The Missing Link” At the arsenal housed within the MPF, explains Chief Warrant Officer Virginie Redureau, number two in the structure. The procedure is this the world Was able to do an experiment – it’s very simple: with two clicks on the tablet, it generates a Wi-Fi network that you just need to connect to. Thus, all telephone communications will be screened for suspicious traces.

The tablet shows a series of operations to be performed on his phone. The goal is to trigger behaviors that are likely to interest a possible spyware: open your email inbox, send an SMS, take a photo… In just a few minutes the result will appear (here, negative). No data is stored, the gendarmes didn’t even have to take my phone.

In most cases the result is negative “People are relieved”According to Chief Warrant Officer. But if the feeling of espionage persists, gendarmes will try to explore other channels of digital influence, such as (sometimes forced) password sharing. Moreover, even if DULE is a good way to raise suspicion, it does not guarantee exhaustive detection.