Google calls on US to do more to rein in spyware sales, misuse

Google is calling on governments to do more to combat the sale of spyware and abuse of surveillance software, according to a new report.

“The damage is not hypothetical,” says Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) Said In Tuesday’s report, of the title “You’re buying espionage,” he added, adding that “spyware vendors point out that their tools are used legitimately for law enforcement and counter-terrorism purposes.”

“However, the deployment of spyware against journalists, human rights defenders, political dissidents, and opposition politicians (what Google calls ‘high-risk users’) is based on Google’s analysis and that of organizations such as US universities. It is well documented by both researchers. Citizen Lab of Toronto and Amnesty International,” the report said.

The company specifically blamed certain “commercial surveillance vendors” (CSVs). These include NSO Group, the Israeli company that developed the infamous Pegasus spyware, which posed a significant threat to human rights and human rights. Other companies named in the report include Italian companies Cy4Gate and RCS Labs, Greek company Intellexa, and lesser-known Italian companies Negg Group and Spain’s Variston.

“We hope this report serves as a call to action,” the TAG report continues. “CSV will continue to develop and sell spyware as long as there is a government requirement to purchase commercial surveillance technology.”

The group added: “We believe it is time for governments, industry and civil society to come together to change the incentive structures that have enabled the widespread adoption of these technologies.”

The news comes as the United States on Monday announced a new program to impose visa restrictions on foreign nationals involved in commercial spyware exploits, according to the Associated Press.

A 2021 investigation found that a United Arab Emirates (UAE) government agency sent a Pegasus message to the late Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi’s phone in the months before he was murdered. It was concluded that he was downloading software. Erator later sued NSO Group in 2023, accusing it of violating federal and Virginia hacking laws and of negligence in selling Pegasus spyware to hostile foreign parties.

“Demand from government customers remains strong, and our findings highlight the extent to which CSVs propagate hacking and spyware capabilities that make the Internet less secure for everyone.” says the TAG report.

“To meet demand from government customers, CSV finds and develops exploits, emerges as a high-paying customer for exploit developers and brokers, and incentivizes the sale of exploits at the expense of security,” the company said. writing.