Meet the team that hunts government spyware

"For more than a decade, dozens of journalists and human rights activists have been targeted and hacked by governments all over the world. Cops and spies in Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary, India, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, among others, have used sophisticated spyware to compromise the phones of these victims, who at times have also faced real-world violence being intimidated, harassed, and in extreme cases, even murdered."

"They work for the New York-headquartered nonprofit Access Now, specifically its Digital Security Helpline. Their mission is to be the team of people who journalists, human rights defenders, and dissidents can go to if they suspect they've been hacked, such as with mercenary spyware made by companies like NSO Group, Intellexa, or Paragon."

"The helpline has become a critical funnel for victims. So much so that when Apple sends its users a so-called "threat notification" alerting them that they have been targeted with mercenary spyware, the tech giant has long directed victims to Access Now's investigators. In speaking with TechCrunch, Selmi described a scenario where someone gets one of these threat notifications, and where Access Now can help victims."

Governments and state-aligned actors have used sophisticated mercenary spyware for over a decade to target journalists and human rights activists, compromising phones and exposing victims to intimidation, harassment, and sometimes murder. Cops and spies in countries across multiple regions have exploited these tools to surveil higher-risk communities. A team of roughly a dozen digital security experts operates a Digital Security Helpline within the nonprofit Access Now to provide continuous incident response. The Helpline analyzes threat notifications, offers guidance after suspected compromises, and serves as a frontline resource for victims of targeted spyware attacks.

Read at TechCrunch