"For more than a decade, makers of government spyware have defended themselves from criticism by saying that their surveillance technology is intended to be used only against serious criminals and terrorists, and only in limited cases. The evidence gathered from dozens, if not hundreds of documented instances of spyware abuse all over the world, however, shows that neither of those arguments are true. Journalists, human rights activists, and politicians have repeatedly been targeted in both repressive regimes and democratic countries."
"This latest case shows that spyware is proliferating far beyond the scope of what we have typically considered to be "rare" or "limited" attacks targeting only a few people at a time. "I think that there is some misunderstanding at the heart of stories about who gets targeted by this kind of government spyware, which is that if you are targeted, you are Public Enemy Number One," Eva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation,"
Government spyware has been used to target a wide range of people beyond serious criminals and terrorists, including journalists, human rights activists, and politicians in both repressive and democratic countries. Documented instances number in the dozens or hundreds, indicating proliferation beyond rare, limited attacks. Targeting is technically easy and often employed against relatively minor political opponents and ordinary activists. Commercial vendors sell surveillance tools to state customers with upfront purchase fees and lower maintenance costs, facilitating widespread deployment and persistent use. The sales model and low marginal cost of targeting, combined with weak oversight and regulatory gaps, drive misuse and make containment difficult. Recent confirmed cases include a political consultant in Italy infected with Paragon spyware.
Read at TechCrunch
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]