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 also issued an Executive Order prohibiting the U.S. government from using mercenary surveillance tools that may pose risks to foreign policy interests or national security.
The Biden administration has released guiding principles for governments to prevent misuse of surveillance tech in a joint effort with 36 other governments to prevent human rights abuses.
The Biden admin also released guiding principles regarding the government's use of surveillance tech as part of a joint effort with 36 other governments to prevent its misuse to enable human rights abuses.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added four European commercial spyware companies to its Entity List in July 2023 due to their involvement in trafficking cyber exploits used to hack the devices of high-risk individuals worldwide.
According to the State Department, the deployment of commercial spyware tools developed by Intellexa S.A. from Greece, Intellexa Limited from Ireland, Cytrox Holdings Zrt from Hungary, and Cytrox AD from North Macedonia on a worldwide scale aimed to intimidate political adversaries, restrict freedom of speech, suppress dissent, and keep track of journalists' activity.
Google's Threat Analysis Group linked the Cytrox in May 2022 with multiple zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in Predator spyware attacks targeting Android users, while Intellexa was tagged as the maker of the Predator Android spyware and its loader Alien by Cisco Talos and Citizen Lab security researchers.
Intellexa's spyware was also used in various surveillance campaigns targeting high-profile European politicians, journalists, and Meta executives.
The Commerce Department sanctioned four other companies from Israel, Russia, and Singapore in November 2021 because of their involvement in developing spyware or selling hacking tools deployed by state-sponsored hacking groups.
Positive Technologies in Russia and Computer Security Initiative Consultancy in Singapore were banned for trafficking exploits and hacking tools.
Israeli spyware makers Candiru and NSO Group were listed for developing and commercializing spyware used to target activists and journalists worldwide.
More Android apps riddled with malware spotted on Google Play.
FBI disrupts Chinese botnet by wiping malware from infected routers.
US charges two more suspects with DraftKing account hacks.
Ransomware payments drop to record low as victims refuse to pay.
Water services giant Veolia North America hit by ransomware attack.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:26:37 +0000