Israeli Hacking Spyware In Widespread Use
An Israeli firm's hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organisations across at least 10 countries, according to new research published by Microsoft .
The new Israeli-made spyware which resembles the notorious Pegasus malware program has been used to target journalists and opposition politicians in several countries. Pegasus is developed and sold by the Israeli spyware company NSO Group.
Confirming Microsoft's report, researchers at Toronto University's Citizen Lab have identified a number of individual victims whose iPhones had been hacked using surveillance software developed by QuaDream, another Israeli company,
Quadream is a surveillance technology company founded in 2014 by a group including two former NSO Group employees and is a competitor to the Israeli spyware company NSO Group, which has been blacklisted by the US government over allegations of abuse.
Once placed on a user's phone or computer, QuaDream's spyware can record audio from a phone call, record external sounds from a device's microphone, take pictures from cameras, and search the device's files, all without the user's knowledge.
In their report on surveillance malware, Microsoft said it believed with "high confidence" that the spyware was "strongly linked to QuaDream." In a statement, Microsoft Associate General Counsel Amy Hogan-Burney said that mercenary hacking groups like QuaDream "thrive in the shadows" and that publicly outing them was "essential to stopping this activity."
These reports have appeared following a US crackdown on the international spyware industry. The White House recently announced an Executive Order intended to stop the purchase of surveillance software by US agencies if the programs are also being used by repressive governments abroad.
According to the Presidential Executive Order, the US government has a national security interest in ensuring that technology is developed, deployed, and governed in accordance with the rule of law and appropriate legal authoristion and safeguards "... mitigating, to the greatest extent possible, the risk emerging technologies may pose to United States Government institutions, personnel, information, and information systems...”
According to Citizen Lab, QuaDream has already marketed its spyware and services to government clients including Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco. Attempts by reporters to contact QuaDream for comment, including a visit to the company’s office near Tel Aviv, have been unsuccessful.
Citizen Lab: Microsoft: Reuters: White House: Malaysia Now: Silicon:
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