Schneier on Security

OCTOBER 7, 2022

The Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis was spied on by his own government, with a commercial spyware product called “Predator.” The world would be a much safer place if that government stopped this cyberweapons arms trade from inside its borders. Koukakis is suing Intellexa. Why does it always seem to be Israel?

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Schneier on Security

AUGUST 5, 2019

Deibert, and John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab published an editorial calling for regulating the international trade in commercial surveillance systems until we can figure out how to curb human rights abuses. The purchase of surveillance technology by law enforcement in any state must be transparent and subject to public debate.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 13, 2025

North Korea-linked APT group ScarCruft used a new Android spyware dubbed KoSpy to target Korean and English-speaking users. North Korea-linked threat actor ScarCruft (aka APT37 , Reaper, and Group123) is behind a previously undetected Android surveillance tool namedKoSpythat was used to target Korean and English-speaking users.

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Adam Levin

MAY 15, 2019

WhatsApp disclosed a major security vulnerability that allowed hackers to remotely install spyware on mobile devices. The spyware deployed has been traced back to NSO Group, an Israeli cyber company alleged to have enabled Middle East governments to surveil its citizens. NSO Group has denied involvement.

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CyberSecurity Insiders

JULY 22, 2021

Chine Foreign Ministry has issued a public statement condemning the distribution and usage of Pegasus Spyware surveillance software by various countries. Now, to those uninitiated, Israel-based NSO Group developed Pegasus surveillance software that was meant for government organizations to spy on criminal suspects.

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Security Affairs

JULY 19, 2021

Pegasus Project investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets revealed the abuse of NSO Group’s spyware. Pegasus Project is the name of a large-scale investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets that revealed the abuse of NSO Group’s spyware.

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Schneier on Security

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Spying and surveillance are different but related things. If I hired that same private detective to put you under surveillance, I would get a different report: where you went, whom you talked to, what you purchased, what you did. Before the internet, putting someone under surveillance was expensive and time-consuming.

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Schneier on Security

DECEMBER 7, 2023

Which means that those companies can spy on them—either for their own reasons or in response to government demands. “In this case, the federal government prohibited us from sharing any information,” the company said in a statement.

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SecureWorld News

APRIL 15, 2024

Apple has escalated its fight against the commercial spyware industry enabling state actors to conduct highly-targeted cyberattacks against journalists, activists, politicians, and other high-risk individuals around the world. These types of attacks have victims in every country in the world." Just last month, the U.S.

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The Hacker News

JULY 16, 2021

The spyware vendor was also formally identified as the commercial surveillance company that Google's

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Malwarebytes

MARCH 7, 2024

The US Treasury Department has sanctioned Predator spyware vendor Intellexa Consortium, and banned the company from doing business in the US. Predator can turn infected smartphones into surveillance devices. The Entity List is a trade control list created and maintained by the US government.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 2, 2024

Court ordered surveillance firm NSO Group to hand over the source code for its Pegasus spyware and other products to Meta. Meta won the litigation against the Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group , a U.S. from April 29, 2018, to May 10, 2020). from April 29, 2018, to May 10, 2020).

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Malwarebytes

APRIL 21, 2022

” John Scott-Railton recalled after finding out on July 7, 2020 that Pegasus, the highly sophisticated flagship spyware of Israel’s NSO Group, was used to infect a phone linked to the network at 10 Downing Street, the UK Prime Minister’s home and office. “When we found the No. 10 case, my jaw dropped.” Hello, Maestro?

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Security Affairs

MAY 23, 2022

We assess the exploits were packaged by a single commercial surveillance company, Cytrox, and sold to different govt-backed actors. The attacks aimed at installing the surveillance spyware Predator, developed by the North Macedonian firm Cytrox. link] — Shane Huntley (@ShaneHuntley) May 19, 2022. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

DECEMBER 3, 2021

Apple warns that the mobile devices of at least nine US Department of State employees were compromised with NSO Group ‘s Pegasus spyware. The iPhones of at least nine US state department officials were compromised with the NSO Group’s spyware Pegasus. “Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S.

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Security Affairs

APRIL 12, 2023

At least five members of civil society worldwide have been targeted with spyware and exploits developed by surveillance firm QuaDream. Citizen Lab researchers reported that at least five civil society members were victims of spyware and exploits developed by the Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream. and 14.4.2,

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Security Affairs

APRIL 17, 2023

The Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream is allegedly shutting down its operations after Citizen Lab and Microsoft uncovered their spyware. Last week Citizen Lab researchers reported that at least five civil society members were victims of spyware and exploits developed by the Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream.

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Security Affairs

JUNE 17, 2022

Experts uncovered an enterprise-grade surveillance malware dubbed Hermit used to target individuals in Kazakhstan, Syria, and Italy since 2019. Lookout Threat Lab researchers uncovered enterprise-grade Android surveillance spyware, named Hermit, used by the government of Kazakhstan to track individuals within the country.

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Security Affairs

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

The iPhone of a prominent Russian journalist, who is at odds with Moscow, was infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The iPhone of the Russian journalist Galina Timchenko was compromised with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The threat actors used a zero-click exploit, likely the PWNYOURHOME. .”

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Security Affairs

APRIL 25, 2020

The legal dispute between Facebook and NSO group continues even after the Israeli surveillance firm filed a motion to dismiss the case earlier this month. Facebook advocates have challenged a plea from spyware maker NSO Group to dismiss the legal dispute over the hacking accusations, arguing it has immunity from prosecution.

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Security Affairs

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

Apple drops its lawsuit against commercial spyware vendor NSO Group, due to the risk of “threat intelligence” information exposure. Apple is seeking to drop its lawsuit against Israeli spyware company NSO Group , citing the risk of “threat intelligence” information exposure. ” reads the court filing.

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Security Affairs

JANUARY 9, 2022

The US NCSC and the Department of State published joint guidance on defending against attacks using commercial surveillance tools. In the last years, we have reported several cases of companies selling commercial surveillance tools to governments and other entities that have used them for malicious purposes. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

JULY 9, 2023

The French government is going to grant law enforcement the power to spy on suspects through smartphones and other devices. “”We’re far away from the totalitarianism of 1984,” George Orwell’s novel about a society under total surveillance, Dupond-Moretti said.

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Security Affairs

APRIL 8, 2020

In October 2019, WhatsApp sued the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group accusing it of carrying out malicious attacks against its users. In May, Facebook has patched a critical zero-day vulnerability in WhatsApp, tracked as CVE-2019-3568 , that has been exploited to remotely install spyware on phones by calling the targeted device.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Google’s TAG revealed that Commercial spyware vendors (CSV) were behind most of the zero-day vulnerabilities discovered in 2023. Surveillance software is used to spy on high-risk users, including journalists, human rights defenders, dissidents and opposition party politicians. ” concludes Google.

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Security Affairs

JUNE 24, 2022

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed that the Italian spyware vendor RCS Labs was supported by ISPs to spy on users. TAG researchers tracked more than 30 vendors selling exploits or surveillance capabilities to nation-state actors. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Earlier this month, German authorities have raided the offices of FinFisher, the German surveillance software firm, accused of providing its software to oppressive regimes. The post German authorities raid the offices of the FinFisher surveillance firm appeared first on Security Affairs. Pierluigi Paganini.

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SecureWorld News

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

In a groundbreaking investigative report, the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) media network, with technical assistance from Amnesty International's Security Lab, has exposed the shocking extent of the global surveillance crisis and the glaring inadequacies of EU regulation in curbing it. Chairman, Cedric Leighton Associates, LLC.

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Malwarebytes

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Recent events have demonstrated very clearly just how persistent and wide-spread the Pegasus spyware is. The exploit chain based on these vulnerabilities was capable of compromising devices without any interaction from the victim and were reportedly used by the NSO Group to deliver its infamous Pegasus spyware.

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Security Affairs

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Lookout researchers discovered two long-running surveillance campaigns targeting the ethnic minority Uyghurs. Researchers from mobile security firm Lookout uncovered two long-running surveillance campaigns targeting the Uyghurs minority. List of installed packages. Call logs and geocoded location associated with the call.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 30, 2019

Security researchers have found a new government spyware, tracked as Exodus, that was distributed through the Google Play Store. According to Motherboard, the Android surveillance malware on the Google Play store that was sold to the Italian government by a company that sells surveillance cameras.

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Security Affairs

MAY 14, 2019

Facebook fixed a critical zero-day flaw in WhatsApp that has been exploited to remotely install spyware on phones by calling the targeted device. Facebook has recently patched a critical zero-day vulnerability in WhatsApp, tracked as CVE-2019-3568 , that has been exploited to remotely install spyware on phones by calling the targeted device.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

The threat actors used by spyware to take over the target systems, spy on the victims, and exfiltrate data. The APT32 group has been active since at least 2012, it has targeted organizations across multiple industries and foreign governments, dissidents, and journalists. ” reads the post published by Amnesty International. .”

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

One of the Apple iOS zero-day flaws exploited by the NSO group was also used by another surveillance firm named QuaDream. One of the vulnerabilities in Apple iOS that was previously exploited by the spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group was also separately used by another surveillance firm named QuaDream.

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Zero Day

AUGUST 9, 2021

Surveillance isn't just the purview of nation-states and government agencies -- sometimes, it's closer to home.

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Security Boulevard

JULY 22, 2021

Earlier in July, a group of security researchers revealed that they had been working together to uncover a widespread surveillance of journalists, politicians, government officials, chief executives, and human rights activists. The post Pegasus And Spyware | Avast appeared first on Security Boulevard.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 3, 2023

The phone of an opposition-linked Polish mayor was infected with the powerful Pegasus spyware, local media reported. Reuters reported that the phone of an opposition-linked Polish mayor was infected with the Pegasus spyware. According to rumors, the Polish special services are using surveillance software to spy on government opponents.

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