US Sanctions Intellexa Executives as Surveillance Spyware Crackdown Expands

Sanctions target five individuals linked to Intellexa Consortium as the US government expands its crackdown on commercial spyware merchants.
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NSO Group tech reportedly used to hack US officials’ iPhones

Nearly a dozen iPhones associated with U.S. State Department employees were hacked using spyware developed by Israel-based NSO Group, Reuters first reported Friday. The attacks were carried out in the last several months by an unknown assailant on U.S. officials either based in Uganda or focused on the country, sources told Reuters. The Washington Post and CNN also confirmed the intrusions. Previous reporting on NSO Group suggested that U.S. officials’ phones may have been targeted using software developed by NSO Group, but Friday’s report is the first to confirm successful breaches. As many as 11 U.S. diplomats received notices from Apple that they may have been targeted with the spyware, the Post reported. Apple began notifying potential targets around the world that they may have been targeted by the NSO Group software on Nov. 23, the same day the tech firm announced a lawsuit against NSO Group for allegedly violating […]

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Commerce Department blacklists controversial spyware company NSO Group

The Commerce Department Wednesday added two Israeli spyware companies, NSO Group and Candiru, to its entity list of companies that pose a national security and foreign policy risk to the United States. The designation accuses both NSO Group and Candiru of having “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to maliciously target government officials, journalists, business people, activists, academics, and embassy workers.” Inclusion on the list enacts stringent licensing requirements for exports to designated companies from U.S. businesses. Companies previously included on the list include Chinese firm Huawei, which the U.S. government has flagged as posing a risk to Americans’ data. Also added to the entity list Wednesday were Russia-based Positive Technologies and Singapore-based Computer Security Initiative. The Commerce Department accused the two companies of trafficking “cyber exploits used to gain access to information systems, threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide.” The […]

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