Frequently Asked Questions

Haris Shield is a desktop application that scans your phone for spyware, stalkerware, and state-sponsored surveillance tools like Pegasus. You connect your phone via USB cable — no app installation is needed on your phone, and the contents of your phone stay on your computer.

Antivirus apps run on the phone itself, where spyware that has taken control of the phone can hide from them. Haris Shield runs on your computer and reads the phone from the outside over the USB cable. It also looks for the forensic traces researchers use to find Pegasus and similar tools — though no tool can catch every advanced intrusion.

The analysis runs entirely on your computer, and we never receive the contents of your phone — no messages, photos, contacts, call logs or app lists, and not what a scan found. The app does talk to our server to check your licence, count scans and fetch signed threat indicators, and a few features contact other services, such as Have I Been Pwned for the breach check. Every connection is listed on our How it works page.

Haris Shield is for anyone who wants to ensure their phone is not being monitored. This includes journalists, activists, domestic violence survivors, business executives, security professionals, and anyone concerned about their phone privacy.

The scan installs nothing on your phone and only reads data through the same USB interfaces that iTunes, Finder and Android's developer tools use. We know of no spyware that warns its operator about such a scan, but we cannot rule it out for every tool.

Your licence key and a computer ID go to harisshield.com for the licence and balance check, and after each scan the app reports that a scan ran: iOS or Android, the number of findings and the time — not what was found. It also downloads signed threat indicators. On iPhone, component verification sends the serial number to Apple; on Android, the app checks the certificates of some servers the phone is connected to. Your messages, photos, contacts, call logs and app lists are never transmitted. The full list, and what offline mode does and does not switch off, is on our How it works page.

Pegasus is a highly sophisticated spyware developed by NSO Group that can infect iPhones and Android devices without any user interaction (zero-click). It can access messages, emails, calls, camera, microphone, and location. Haris Shield includes specialized detection for Pegasus and similar state-sponsored tools.

If you suspect you are being monitored by a partner, employer, or government, scan your phone in a safe location using a trusted computer. If threats are detected, do not remove them immediately — this could alert the attacker. Instead, use the forensic report to document evidence and seek professional help or contact law enforcement.