Human rights groups release anti-surveillance tool

BERLIN – Four human rights groups have released a tool that lets users check whether their computer has been infected with surveillance software.

Amnesty International says the tool released Thursday, called Detekt, is designed for right activists and journalists but will be freely available to anybody who fears their computer is being used to monitor them.

Developer Claudio Guarnieri, a security researcher based in Germany, says Detekt can currently find eight different pieces of spy software, including FinSpy.

FinSpy, made by German company FinFisher, is sold to governments for criminal investigations. It has also been found on computers used by human rights lawyers and activists in countries such as Bahrain and Ethiopia.