SecureWorld News

MAY 13, 2025

million judgment against NSO Group, the Israeli company behind the Pegasus spyware. company has successfully held a commercial spyware vendor accountable in a court of law, Reuters reports. Spyware at scale: inside the surveillance-as-a-service business model The trial unearthed a rare look into NSO's operations.

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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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Security Affairs

DECEMBER 7, 2024

Russia’s FSB used spyware against a Russian programmer after detaining him for allegedly donating to Ukraine earlier this year. The Federal Security Service (FSB) used spyware to monitor a Russian programmer, Kirill Parubets, after he was detained earlier this year for allegedly donating to Ukraine. ” continues the report.

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Malwarebytes

MAY 8, 2025

Meta has won almost $170m in damages from Israel-based NSO Group, maker of the Pegasus spyware. According to the original complaint against NSO Group, filed in October 2019, the spyware vendor used WhatsApp servers to send malware to around 1400 mobile phones.

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Schneier on Security

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Amnesty International has published a comprehensive analysis of the Predator government spyware products. These technologies used to be the exclusive purview of organizations like the NSA. Now they’re available to every country on the planet—democratic, nondemocratic, authoritarian, whatever—for a price.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Researchers found an updated LightSpy spyware with enhanced data collection features targeting social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. have found an updated version of the LightSpy spyware that supports an expanded set of data collection features to target social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. ” Hunt.io

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Security Affairs

MARCH 19, 2025

WhatsApp fixed a zero-click, zero-day vulnerability used to install Paragon’s Graphite spyware on the devices of targeted individuals. WhatsApp has addressed a zero-click, zero-day vulnerability exploited to install Paragon’s Graphite spyware on the devices of targeted individuals.

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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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Schneier on Security

AUGUST 3, 2021

Forbes has the story : Paragon’s product will also likely get spyware critics and surveillance experts alike rubbernecking: It claims to give police the power to remotely break into encrypted instant messaging communications, whether that’s WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger or Gmail, the industry sources said.

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Malwarebytes

MARCH 20, 2025

Experts are again warning about the proliferating market for targeted spyware and espionage. Before we dive into the world of targeted spyware, it’s worth looking at a few of the main players that are active in and against this industry. The name of Paragons spyware is Graphite.

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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.” ” That product is sold by a company in North Macedonia called Cytrox, which is in turn owned by an Israeli company called Intellexa. Koukakis is suing Intellexa.

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Schneier on Security

MAY 24, 2024

New paper: “ Zero Progress on Zero Days: How the Last Ten Years Created the Modern Spyware Market “: Abstract: Spyware makes surveillance simple. The last ten years have also been marked by stark failures to control spyware and its precursors and components.

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Tech Republic Security

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

In a new report from Google's Threat Analysis Group, the researchers detail how commercial surveillance vendors particularly use spyware and target Google and Apple devices.

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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

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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Tech Republic Security

MAY 20, 2022

A commercial surveillance company previously exposed for selling a spyware service dubbed "Predator" keeps targeting users and uses 0-day exploits to compromise Android phones. The post Packaged zero-day vulnerabilities on Android used for cyber surveillance attacks appeared first on TechRepublic.

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Security Affairs

DECEMBER 12, 2024

Chinese law enforcement uses the mobile surveillance tool EagleMsgSpy to gather data from Android devices, as detailed by Lookout. Researchers at the Lookout Threat Lab discovered a surveillance tool, dubbed EagleMsgSpy, used by Chinese law enforcement to spy on mobile devices. ” reads the report published by Lookout.

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Security Affairs

NOVEMBER 16, 2024

Court filing revealed that NSO Group used WhatsApp exploits after the instant messaging firm sued the surveillance company. NSO Group developed malware that relied on WhatsApp exploits to infect target individuals even after the Meta-owned instant messaging company sued the surveillance firm. from April 29, 2018, to May 10, 2020).

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Malwarebytes

APRIL 11, 2025

The US State Department reportedly plans to sign an international agreement designed to govern the use of commercial spyware known as the Pall Mall Pact. The goal of the Pall Mall Pact is to regulate Commercial Cyber Intrusion Capabilities (CCICs), or what we usually refer to as spyware and surveillance tools.

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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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Security Affairs

APRIL 8, 2025

In March 2025, WhatsApp addressed a zero-click, zero-day vulnerability exploited to install Paragons Graphite spyware on the devices of targeted individuals. WhatsApp blocked a spyware campaign by Paragon targeting journalists and civil society members after reports of the Citizen Lab group from the University of Toronto.

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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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The Hacker News

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an improved version of an Apple iOS spyware called LightSpy that not only expands on its functionality, but also incorporates destructive capabilities to prevent the compromised device from booting up.

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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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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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The Hacker News

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

State Department said it's implementing a new policy that imposes visa restrictions on individuals who are linked to the illegal use of commercial spyware to surveil civil society members. Such targeting has been

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The Hacker News

JUNE 7, 2024

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed that the LightSpy spyware allegedly targeting Apple iOS users is in fact a previously undocumented macOS variant of the implant.

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Security Affairs

JULY 12, 2020

Google announced that starting from August it will update its policies to reject ads proposed by organizations offering surveillance software. The move aims at fighting the advertising of any form of surveillance. Google wants to halt the use of ads for technology that could allow monitoring a person’s online activity (i.e.

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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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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

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

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

The European Data Protection Supervisor authority called for a ban on the development and the use of Pegasus-like commercial spyware. The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) authority this week called for a ban on the development and the use of surveillance software like the Pegasus spyware in the EU. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Schneier on Security

JUNE 23, 2021

Its spyware is also said to be equipped with a keylogger, which means every keystroke made on an infected device — including passwords, search queries and messages sent via encrypted messaging apps — can be tracked and monitored.

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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

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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