Latest Surveillance news

US imposes visa bans on 13 spyware makers and their families

The Department of State has started imposing visa restrictions on mercenary spyware makers and peddlers, prohibiting their entry into the United States, as announced earlier in February.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- April 23, 2024
- 11:38 AM
- 0
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.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- February 05, 2024
- 03:26 PM
- 6
US senator: Govts spy on Apple, Google users via mobile notifications

A U.S. senator revealed today that government agencies worldwide demand mobile push notification records from Apple and Google users to spy on their customers.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- December 06, 2023
- 02:58 PM
- 1
Predator: Looking under the hood of Intellexa’s Android spyware

Security researchers at Cisco Talos and the Citizen Lab have presented a new technical analysis of the commercial Android spyware 'Predator' and its loader 'Alien,' sharing its data-theft capabilities and other operational details.
- Bill Toulas
- May 25, 2023
- 02:57 PM
- 1
Hackers exploit 5-year-old unpatched flaw in TBK DVR devices

Hackers are actively exploiting an unpatched 2018 authentication bypass vulnerability in exposed TBK DVR (digital video recording) devices.
- Bill Toulas
- May 02, 2023
- 11:13 AM
- 0
NY attorney general forces spyware vendor to alert victims

The New York attorney general's office has announced a $410,000 fine against a stalkerware developer who used 16 companies to promote surveillance tools illegally.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- February 04, 2023
- 11:23 AM
- 0
Google discovers Windows exploit framework used to deploy spyware

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has linked an exploit framework that targets now-patched vulnerabilities in the Chrome and Firefox web browsers and the Microsoft Defender security app to a Spanish software company.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- November 30, 2022
- 12:00 PM
- 2
New BadBazaar Android malware linked to Chinese cyberspies

A previously undocumented Android spyware tool named 'BadBazaar' has been discovered targeting ethnic and religious minorities in China, most notably the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
- Bill Toulas
- November 11, 2022
- 11:26 AM
- 0
Spyware vendor works with ISPs to infect iOS and Android users

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed today that RCS Labs, an Italian spyware vendor, has received help from some Internet service providers (ISPs) to infect Android and iOS users in Italy and Kazakhstan with commercial surveillance tools.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- June 23, 2022
- 01:07 PM
- 1
Google: Predator spyware infected Android devices using zero-days

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) says that state-backed threat actors used five zero-day vulnerabilities to install Predator spyware developed by commercial surveillance developer Cytrox.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- May 22, 2022
- 10:00 AM
- 0
Clearview AI fined €20M for collecting Italians’ biometric data

The Italian privacy guarantor (GPDP) has imposed a fine of €20,000,000 on Clearview AI for implementing a biometric monitoring network in Italy without acquiring people's consent.
- Bill Toulas
- March 09, 2022
- 11:09 AM
- 0
Europol ordered to erase data on those not linked to crime

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), an EU privacy and data protection independent supervisory authority, has ordered Europol to erase personal data on individuals that haven't been linked to criminal activity.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- January 10, 2022
- 11:13 AM
- 0
US counterintelligence shares tips to block spyware attacks

The US National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and the Department of State have jointly published guidance on defending against attacks using commercial surveillance tools.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- January 07, 2022
- 11:22 AM
- 1
Facebook disrupts operations of seven surveillance-for-hire firms

Facebook has disrupted the operations of seven different spyware-making companies, blocking their Internet infrastructure, sending cease and desist letters, and banning them from its platform.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- December 16, 2021
- 03:52 PM
- 1
Apple sues spyware-maker NSO Group, notifies iOS exploit targets

Apple has filed a lawsuit against Pegasus spyware-maker NSO Group and its parent company for the targeting and spying of Apple users with surveillance tech.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- November 23, 2021
- 01:31 PM
- 1
Surveillance firm pays $1 million fine after 'spy van' scandal

The Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection in Cyprus has collected a $1 million fine from intelligence company WiSpear for gathering mobile data from various individuals arriving at the airport in Larnaca.
- Ionut Ilascu
- November 13, 2021
- 10:01 AM
- 0
FinFisher malware hijacks Windows Boot Manager with UEFI bootkit

Commercially developed FinFisher malware now can infect Windows devices using a UEFI bootkit that it injects in the Windows Boot Manager.
- Sergiu Gatlan
- September 28, 2021
- 01:46 PM
- 0
QNAP fixes critical bugs in QVR video surveillance solution

Network-attached storage (NAS) maker QNAP has patched its QVR video management system against two critical-severity issues that could be exploited to run arbitrary commands.
- Ionut Ilascu
- September 27, 2021
- 12:56 PM
- 0
Former U.S. intel operatives to pay $1.6M for hacking for foreign govt

The U.S. government has entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with three former intelligence operatives to resolve criminal charges relating to their offering of hacking services to a foreign government.
- Ionut Ilascu
- September 15, 2021
- 07:22 PM
- 2
Pro-India hackers use Android spyware to spy on Pakistani military

This week a report has revealed details on the two spyware strains leveraged by state-sponsored threat actors during the India-Pakistan conflict. The malware strains named Hornbill and SunBird have been delivered as fake Android apps (APKs) by the Confucius advanced persistent threat group (APT), a state-sponsored operation.
- Ax Sharma
- February 14, 2021
- 12:12 PM
- 0