Google says spyware vendors behind most zero-days it discovers

Commercial spyware vendors were behind 80% of the zero-day vulnerabilities Google's Threat Analysis Group discovered in 2023 and used to spy on devices worldwide.
Zero-day vulnerabilities are security flaws the vendors of impacted software do not know about or for which there are no available fixes.
Google's TAG has been following the activities of 40 commercial spyware vendors to detect exploitation attempts, protect users of its products, and help safeguard the broader community by reporting key findings to the appropriate parties.
Based on this monitoring, Google has found that 35 of the 72 known in-the-wild zero-day exploits impacting its products over the last ten years can be attributed to spyware vendors.
Those spyware vendors use the zero-day flaws to target journalists, activists, and political figures as directed by their customers, including governments and private organizations.
Intellexa: Alliance of spyware firms led by Tal Dilian since 2019.
NSO Group: Israeli firm famous for Pegasus spyware and other sophisticated espionage tools.
Variston: Spanish CSV providing tailored security solutions.
It collaborates with other vendors for zero-day exploits and is linked to the Heliconia framework, expanding in the UAE. These vendors sell licenses to use their products for millions of dollars, allowing customers to infect Android or iOS devices using undocumented 1-click or zero-click exploits.
Some of the exploit chains utilize n-days, which are known flaws for which fixes are available, yet patching delays still make them exploitable for malicious purposes, often for extended periods.
Google says that CSVs have grown very aggressive in their hunt for zero-days, developing at least 33 exploits for unknown vulnerabilities between 2019 and 2023.
In the appendix of Google's detailed report, one can find a list of 74 zero-days used by 11 CSVs. Of those, the majority are zero-days impacting Google Chrome and Android, followed by Apple iOS and Windows.
When white-hat researchers discover and fix the exploited flaws, CSVs often incur significant operational and financial damage as they struggle to reconstruct a working alternative infection pathway.
This is not enough to stop the proliferation of spyware, as the demand for these tools is strong, and the contracts are too lucrative for CSVs to give up.
Google calls for more action to be taken against the spyware industry, including higher levels of collaboration among governments, the introduction of strict guidelines that govern the use of surveillance technology, and diplomatic efforts with countries hosting non-compliant vendors.
Google is proactively countering spyware threats through solutions like Safe Browsing, Gmail security, the Advanced Protection Program, and Google Play Protect, as well as by maintaining transparency and openly sharing threat information with the tech community.
GrapheneOS: Frequent Android auto-reboots block firmware exploits.
More Android apps riddled with malware spotted on Google Play.
Google Search bug shows blank page in Firefox for Android.
New Xamalicious Android malware installed 330k times on Google Play.


This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:30:10 +0000


Cyber News related to Google says spyware vendors behind most zero-days it discovers

Google says spyware vendors behind most zero-days it discovers - Commercial spyware vendors were behind 80% of the zero-day vulnerabilities Google's Threat Analysis Group discovered in 2023 and used to spy on devices worldwide. Zero-day vulnerabilities are security flaws the vendors of impacted software do not ...
9 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Citizen Lab details ongoing battle against spyware vendors - Citizen Lab senior researcher Bill Marczak said that while the organization has achieved some important wins against spyware proliferation, the progress is inevitably hindered by vendors that continually adapt their technologies and practices. The ...
9 months ago Techtarget.com
Spyware isn't going anywhere, and neither are its tactics - The illegal use of spyware to target high-profile or at-risk individuals is a global problem, as highlighted by this article from The Register that Talos' Nick Biasini just contributed to. As we've written about, many Private Sector Offensive Actors ...
9 months ago Blog.talosintelligence.com
US Uses Visa Restrictions in Struggle Against Spyware - The United States will impose visa restrictions on foreign individuals who have been involving the misuse of spyware, the latest effort by the Biden Administration to address the dangers of the commercial software that often is used by governments ...
9 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Days After Google, Apple Reveals Exploited Zero-Day in Browser Engine - Apple has patched an actively exploited zero-day bug in its WebKit browser engine for Safari. Actively Exploited Apple yesterday described the vulnerability as something an attacker could exploit to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. ...
9 months ago Darkreading.com
Google Patches Another Chrome Zero-Day as Browser Attacks Mount - For the fourth time since August, Google has disclosed a bug in its Chrome browser technology that attackers were actively exploiting in the wild before the company had a fix for it. Integer Overflow Bug The latest zero-day, which Google is tracking ...
11 months ago Darkreading.com
Intellexa Spyware Adds Persistence with iOS or Android Device - In the shadowy realm of commercial spyware, the spotlight turns to the notorious Intellexa spyware and its Predator/Alien solution, as dissected by Cisco Talos in their comprehensive May 2023 report. This expose navigates the labyrinthine intricacies ...
10 months ago Gbhackers.com
Intellexa and Cytrox: From fixer-upper to Intel Agency-grade spyware - Cisco Talos has a new, in-depth analysis of timelines, operating paradigms and procedures adopted by spyware vendor Intellexa. Talos' analysis revealed that rebooting an iOS or Android device may not always remove the Predator spyware produced by ...
10 months ago Blog.talosintelligence.com
Apple fixes two new iOS zero-days in emergency updates - Apple released emergency security updates to fix two zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in attacks and impacting iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, reaching 20 zero-days patched since the start of the year. "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
ICE Signs $2 Million Contract With Spyware Maker Paragon Solutions | WIRED - Measures have included placing spyware vendors like NSO Group and Intellexa on the so-called Entity List to prevent any US companies from doing business with them; enacting a visa restriction policy against multiple individuals “who have been ...
1 month ago Wired.com
What is Spyware? How It Works and How to Protect Yourself Against It - Spyware is a type of malicious software that is designed to collect sensitive data from victims without their knowledge or consent. It is typically installed on computers without the user’s knowledge or consent, and collects sensitive information ...
1 year ago Heimdalsecurity.com
Is Your Organization Infected by Mobile Spyware? - The surge in mobile device usage within organizations has inevitably opened the floodgates to a new kind of cyber threat-mobile spyware. The growing dependence on mobile technology has made it imperative for organizations to recognize and mitigate ...
10 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
Kaspersky Details Method for Detecting Spyware in iOS - Researchers with cybersecurity firm Kaspersky are detailing a lightweight method for detecting the presence of spyware, including The NSO Group's notorious Pegasus software, in Apple iOS devices. The new method, which calls for looking for traces of ...
10 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Google Chrome Zero-Day Bug Under Attack, Allows Code Injection - Google has patched a high-severity zero-day bug in its Chrome Web browser that attackers are actively exploiting. The vulnerability, assigned as CVE-2024-0519, is the first Chrome zero-day bug that Google has disclosed in 2024, and the second in the ...
10 months ago Darkreading.com
VMware fixes three zero-day bugs exploited at Pwn2Own 2024 - VMware fixed four security vulnerabilities in the Workstation and Fusion desktop hypervisors, including three zero-days exploited during the Pwn2Own Vancouver 2024 hacking contest. The most severe flaw patched today is CVE-2024-22267, a ...
6 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
U.S. rolls out visa restriction policy on people who misuse spyware to target journalists, activists - WASHINGTON - The Biden administration announced Monday it is rolling out a new policy that will allow it to impose visa restrictions on foreign individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware. The administration's policy will apply to people ...
9 months ago Pbs.org
Google fixes first actively exploited Chrome zero-day of 2024 - Google has released security updates to fix the first Chrome zero-day vulnerability exploited in the wild since the start of the year. The company fixed the zero-day for users in the Stable Desktop channel, with patched versions rolling out worldwide ...
10 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Google Chrome emergency update fixes 6th zero-day exploited in 2023 - Google has fixed the sixth Chrome zero-day vulnerability this year in an emergency security update released today to counter ongoing exploitation in attacks. The company acknowledged the existence of an exploit for the security flaw in a new security ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
US announces visa ban on those linked to commercial spyware - Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced today a new visa restriction policy that will enable the Department of State to ban those linked to commercial spyware from entering the United States. As part of this effort, the Biden Administration ...
9 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Check Point released hotfix for actively exploited VPN zero-day - MUST READ. Check Point released hotfix for actively exploited VPN zero-day. Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for May 2024 fixes 2 actively exploited zero-days. Critical Fortinet's FortiClient EMS flaw actively exploited in the wild. Apple ...
5 months ago Securityaffairs.com
Google tests blocking side-loaded Android apps with risky permissions - Google has launched a new pilot program to fight financial fraud by blocking the sideloading of Android APK files that request access to risky permissions. An APK is a file format used to distribute Android apps for installation in the operating ...
9 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
US to Roll Out Visa Restrictions on People Who Misuse Spyware to Target Journalists, Activists - The Biden administration announced Monday it is rolling out a new policy that will allow it to impose visa restrictions on foreign individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware. The administration's policy will apply to people who've been ...
9 months ago Securityweek.com
Apple fixes Safari WebKit zero-day flaw exploited at Pwn2Own - Apple has released security updates to fix a zero-day vulnerability in the Safari web browser exploited during this year's Pwn2Own Vancouver hacking competition. The company addressed the security flaw on systems running macOS Monterey and macOS ...
6 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Google paid $10 million in bug bounty rewards last year - Google awarded $10 million to 632 researchers from 68 countries in 2023 for finding and responsibly reporting security flaws in the company's products and services. Though this is lower than the $12 million Google's Vulnerability Reward Program paid ...
8 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
JetBrains fingers Rapid7 for customer ransomware attacks The Register - Last week, we wrote about how security outfit Rapid7 threw JetBrains, the company behind the popular CI/CD platform TeamCity, under the bus over allegations of silent patching. The software developer published its side of the story at the time, but ...
8 months ago Go.theregister.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)