Google Exposes 5 Spyware Companies and Pushes for Stronger Control!

Google is speaking up about companies that create spyware, which are tools that can be used for hacking. They’re saying that these companies are making dangerous tools that can be misused, and they want the United States and its friends to do more to control this spyware industry.

Exposing Spyware Firms and Safeguarding Your Privacy

Spyware companies usually claim that their products are meant for government use to ensure national security. However, these tools have been found to be used to hack into the phones of regular people, political opponents, and journalists in the past ten years. The scrutiny on this industry has increased since the discovery of NSO’s Pegasus spyware on the phones of people worldwide, including human rights defenders.

Tools of Intrusion

In a report, Google researchers pointed out that there are not only big companies like NSO but also many smaller ones contributing to the spread of spy technology for harmful purposes. Google has a good view of global hacking activities due to its extensive online services.

The researchers mentioned that the demand for spy tools from government customers is high, and they found that commercial spyware vendors are making hacking tools that make the internet less safe for everyone. They emphasized that the private sector, including these companies, is responsible for a significant part of the advanced hacking tools they detect.

Last year, the United States and its allies committed to working on controlling the surveillance software industry, especially after discovering that at least 50 U.S. government employees in 10 countries were targeted by spyware.

Google Exposes 5 Spyware Companies

Google named several companies that provide services to break into phones, adapting to bypass the latest security measures of phone operating systems like iOS and Android. These include Italian firms Cy4Gate and RCS Labs, Greek company Intellexa, and lesser-known companies Negg Group from Italy and Variston from Spain.

Negg Group claims to focus on cybersecurity, but Google found its software being used to spy on people in Italy, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan. Variston’s software infected users’ devices through browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox or iOS apps. Another company, Protected AE, also known as Protect Electronic Systems, used a similar targeting technique.

These five companies either didn’t respond to requests for comment or couldn’t be reached. The report from Google comes after the United States introduced a new visa restriction policy to limit the activities of those involved in the misuse of commercial spyware. Google believes that restricting the operations of spyware vendors in the U.S. will change the incentive for their continued growth.