The Joe Biden government announced that it is imposing new export limits on two Israeli hacker-for-hire companies – including the NSO Group – saying their tools have been used to “carry out transnational repression.”
Based on leaked data, the conclusions reached by a global media consortium this year provided evidence that NSO Group spyware was used to infiltrate cell phones and other devices of a number of people, including journalists, activists and opponents in 50 countries. .
The US Department of Commerce said the NSO Group and the Candiru firm will be added to the “entity list,” limiting their access to US components and technology by requiring government permission for exports.
He noted that putting those companies on the list is the art of the Biden administration’s efforts to promote human rights in US foreign policy.
“The United States is committed to actively using export controls to hold accountable companies that develop, traffic, or use technology to conduct malicious activities that threaten the cybersecurity of members of civil society, dissidents, government officials, and organizations here and abroad. “Said Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, in a statement.
A prominent Russian firm, Positive Technologies, and Singapore’s Computer Security Initiative Consultancy were also placed on the list for smuggling “cyber tools used to gain unauthorized access” to Internet technology systems, the department said. The Treasury imposed sanctions against Positive Technology, which has a broad international presence and partnerships with tech giants like Microsoft and IBM.
Experts say that the methods used by the NSO Group, the most infamous contract hacking company, have become so sophisticated that they can now infect cell phones without user interaction.
In July, Microsoft announced that it had blocked tools developed by Candiru that were used to spy on more than 100 people around the world, including politicians, human rights activists, journalists, academics and dissidents.
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