'Track your lover' spyware seller and customers indicted

A spyware maker has been indicted for selling software that allowed people to monitor their lovers' online behaviour - and so have his customers.

The man behind the $89 Loverspy program, Carlos Enrique Perez-Malara, has been indicted on 35 hacking charges.

Four of his customers have also been indicted after buying and using Loverspy, which Perez-Malara promoted via spam.

The program would arrive in each recipient's inbox disguised as an e-greetings card. Once opened, the spyware would install itself on the recipient's PC and report their behaviour - including websites visited, emails sent, chat room sessions and IM conversations - to the sender.

It's thought that some 1,000 versions of the program were bought before the FBI shut down the Loverspy site in late 2003. The authorities have since notified victims of the spyware that their PCs may be infected.

Perez-Malara has since disappeared but is thought to be in the Los Angeles area, according to reports.