Meta takes down surveillance-for-hire firms, calls for government action against the industry

The surveillance-for-hire industry is growing quickly as new firms crop up around the globe to meet market demand.

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More than a dozen journalists sue NSO Group in U.S. court over alleged spyware targeting

The lawsuit is the third against the Israeli firm in the U.S., but the first brought by journalists.

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White House expected to issue executive order reining in spyware

The prospect of an executive order limiting use of spyware within U.S. intelligence unleashes potentially even more debate in Washington.

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State Department debars ex-NSA cyber mercenaries who aided vast UAE surveillance operation

The former intelligence operatives worked in a hacking unit of the cybersecurity firm DarkMatter, which is known for developing spyware.

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Will spyware maker NSO Group’s struggles reduce use of its eavesdropping tech? Critics doubt it.

The company announced layoffs and a reorganization on Sunday, but spyware researchers doubt that will reduce the use of its technology.

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House Intel Chairman vows to put ‘greater emphasis’ on fighting spyware

Spyware such as NSO Group-produced Pegasus is proliferating quickly and poses a threat to privacy and national security, experts said.

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Congress goes after spyware purveyors. Will it make a difference?

The crackdown on foreign commercial surveillance comes in the wake of high-profile attacks on diplomats and government officials abroad.

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Apple ramps up war on spyware, a growing digital scourge

An Apple representative said that the company has alerted potential victims of highly targeted mercenary spyware in 150 countries.

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Zero-day exploits found and disclosed hit a record high in 2021, Google Project Zero says

There were 58 total. The good news: Detection and disclosure of zero-day exploits have increased, the research team says.

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Report: Research ties Pegasus spyware on phone Jamal Khashoggi’s wife to UAE agents

United Arab Emirates agents loaded Pegasus spyware on the phone of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s wife months before his death, the Washington Post first reported Tuesday. The software was discovered by Citizen Lab, which examined the device at the request of the newspaper and Khashoggi’s wife, Hanan Elatr. Agents placed the spyware on her phone after seizing her from the Dubai airport in April 2018 and interrogating her, the researchers said. During the interrogations, they seized her two Android phones. Agents typed in a web address that researchers have tied to a network used to spread the spyware. The Post first reported in July that Elatr was targeted by Pegasus spyware via text messages, but researchers couldn’t tell if the hack was successful. It’s unclear if the spyware launched by UAE agents finished installing on the phone, Citizen Lab researcher Bill Marczak told the Post. However, the new findings are the […]

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