The good news, Infosecurity notes, is that the $9.99 app is only being sold off-piste from the official iTunes store, as it requires the host iPhone to be jailbroken.
For this reason, iKeyGuard is being offered for sale on the Cydia unofficial apps store, as well as via other outlets.
According to Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor with Sophos, while iKeyGuard is being pitched as a tool for keeping an eye on your employees and as an archival utility, "unless you have a habit of drunk texting and then deleting all your own SMSs, I can't think of a legitimate, legal use case for this."
"It's strange to think these apps are often offered as legitimate tools that would never be used for anything untoward. Yet the website for the app advertises its following features:
- Hidden but Working
- You won't notice it while working with your device, it won't even show in the list of running apps.
- But will work and send you logs via e-mail in preferred intervals.
The author doesn't ignore the fact that logging people's keystrokes without their permission might be illegal in your country", notes Wisniewski in his latest security blog.
The Sophos researcher goes on to say that the author of the software seems to be a programmer for a company that does produce applications for the real App Store.
"While it is not technically malware, without a doubt this type of program falls into the category of potentially unwanted", he says, adding that, while it may be tempting to spy on your spouse, child, or even employees, it is in fact a criminal act in most jurisdictions.
Wisniewski goes on to say that the existence of this keylogger is another reason for not jailbreaking your iPhone and staying within the confines of Apple's walled garden.