Alongside the rise of text messaging apps, so too has come the prevalent use of software used to record and “spy” on those sending messages. Today, we’ll discuss the widespread rumors of Kik Messenger spy software, and review a few alleged Kik Spyware applications.
Nothing has so prevalently shaped the way that we communicate with each other as digital messaging. Whereas conversations used to be longer and condensed to specific times during the day, we’re now constantly connected to one another thanks to the almost assumed shared experience of having smartphones in our pockets. It’s rare to find anyone in the US that isn’t connected through this common technology. Thus, existing outside of it has become the outlier rather than the norm. Everyone is sending instant messages via text and app, unseparated by demographics such as age or background.
However, even though everyone is on board with the idea of the “smartphone standard,” age, background, and other identifying aspects have lead to fresh concerns that still aren’t particularly concrete, given how quickly we’ve all been forced to adjust to this relatively new method of communication. I’ll ask you to consider a couple of scenarios, for the sake of later explanation as we talk about spying software, particularly as it’s related to Kik Messenger.
Imagine a teenager that just got their hands on a smartphone. Every young person is familiar with the technology, at this point. Kik Messenger, somewhat renowned for the anonymity that it grants to its users, can be an exceptionally safe place for users to chat and share media as normal. However, that anonymity can be dangerous, too. People hide behind it, whether it’s young people themselves who want to mask their own behavior or the types of predators that seek out young targets online. If you’re a concerned parent (or can imagine this scenario from a concerned parent’s perspective) you can see just how useful the idea of a spying application can be.
Inversely, imagine a friendship or romance that’s plagued with trust issues. Both participants are frequently engaged with their own network of online contacts, constantly sending messages and drawing the attention of their partner. Because there’s no trust, suspicions boil up more quickly than they can be quelled, and eventually, they turn to spying on each other in order to prove those unceasing cautions right.
Out of these two concerning scenarios, one avenue of suspicion is far healthier than the other. However, I didn’t present these to achieve a moral high ground, in order to tell you what to do with the types of spyware that we’ll examine. Moreso, the above scenarios should help to explain why spyware exists, and you should keep these scenarios in mind as we examine how it works. Since this is meant to be more of an educational, informative experience, it’s certainly not my place to tell you whether or not to use spyware for Kik Messenger.
How Kik Spyware Works
The first thing that we need to get out of the way: any form of spyware for Kik Messenger is not officially supported by the app’s developers. Therefore, you won’t have any security or reassurance behind you when sourcing spyware and installing it; if it happens to be carrying a virus or malware, you’re going to have very few official resources behind you in order to resolve it. All spyware is inherently third-party developed, and therefore you should always exercise caution when using it.
Unless you’re eager to gain the technical expertise to hack Kik’s servers, you’re going to be reliant upon spyware whenever gaining access to someone else’s data. Additionally, that spyware will need to be installed on the other user’s mobile device in order for you to gain any access at all. You can see, already, where both violations of legality and trust might become primary concerns when using any type of spyware.
Most spyware is designed to function with specific messaging applications, and this is the case with most Kik spyware. When installed on a smartphone, it intercepts inbound and outbound messages and media, then forwards the cached information to your own device. From there, as long as the spyware is working properly and remains installed on the originating mobile device, you’ll have read-access to the sent and received information from that app.
However, much like “hacking,” spyware carries with it a negative connotation that unavoidably gets people thinking that it’s used with ill intentions all of the time. If we’re being honest, it often is used with ill intentions. Outside of mobile app spyware, online predators often use it to steal personal and financial information from unsuspecting people. At its root, spyware can be used for some nasty stuff.
Recall, however, the scenario that I presented above with the young Kik user and the concerned parent. Because of the anonymity offered through the Kik Messenger application–which isn’t inherently a bad thing, at all–parents of young Kik users are left with little opportunity to know what their children are up to, or more importantly, who they’re messaging. Whereas other apps often require than a user tether their mobile device’s phone number to their profile, Kik makes no such requirement.
Rather than imagining spyware as in invasive tool, we can begin to see it as a monitoring technique for a concerned parent. However, even this presents muddy water, as the occasions where a parent needs to monitor their child’s every interaction are quite rare.
But we’re not here to talk about parenting, and even though this is an educational walkthrough of how spyware works, it’s not my place to tell you whether to use it or not. The most important thing to realize is that there’s very real risk involved in doing so, and no available spyware programs have developer support for the app’s that they’re designed to take advantage of.
KikSpy Software
The website for the KikSpy spyware isn’t particularly difficult to find. Typing the title into your search engine will bring you to the website immediately, and it’s even presented in a well-designed format that seems meant to lend a professional appeal.
If you take a moment to read through some of the literature on the site, you’ll see that much of what KikSpy offers is exactly what we’ve described above, albeit wrapped up in a much friendlier presentation. That’s just good advertising, right? As we’ve already established, the app works by intercepting outgoing and inbound communications from the target Kik app, which are then sent over to the “User Area” of the KikSpy software on your own device. In practice, it’s simple. Also, simple is the fact that it’s a breach of privacy, and whether or not that breach of privacy is justified is entirely up to the person using the spyware.
There are a few claims on the site that deserve some elaboration and clarity. Under the section labeled “How does KikSpy work,” the developers of the software claim that the app is “completely invisible” and “hidden.” While this could technically be true, it’s also somewhat misleading. After all, anything is completely and visible and hidden until it’s found, right? The truth of the matter is, the stealthy aspect of KikSpy is dependent upon the target user not knowing to look for it. If the person whose device is hosting the spyware were ever to have suspicion enough to look for it, it most certainly wouldn’t stay hidden on their device.
Additionally, any installation of KikSpy is going to require a process known as “sideloading.” While the concept is simple (it refers to loading an app onto the device by means other than the app store), the type of device that you’re targeting can complicate the process. Open operating systems like Google’s Android OS make sideloading a cinch, as anyone can simply pop a custom .apk onto the device without any trouble. Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, is a much more secure platform that requires jailbreaking or other complicated measures in order to accomplish this task.
For most users, if the intended device is using anything other than Android, you’re out of luck.
Also complicating matters? KikSpy is back in its development state, and the only way that you’re going to find it is by downloading a .apk online, after more extensive searching. This isn’t a particularly hard task, and if you’re looking for a spyware app in the first place, there’s a good chance that you’re already familiar with the process of downloading and installing .apk files.
Overall, the best way to review any type of spyware is to look at it in theory. It’s important to understand the reasons that users choose to take advantage of software like this, just as it’s important to realize that it’s inherently risky business. Understanding that risk is an important first step before pulling the trigger on any type of application or software that violates another person’s privacy since the repercussions of its use will most certainly fall on your shoulders; it won’t fall on mine, as the writer of this guide and review.
Kik spyware software isn’t going away anytime soon, and this review of KikSpy may very well be made timely by the emergence of another, better app, at any point in time. Chime in with your own spyware thoughts and experiences below!
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