surveillance

Pierluigi Paganini May 23, 2022
Cytrox’s Predator spyware used zero-day exploits in 3 campaigns

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) uncovered campaigns targeting Android users with five zero-day vulnerabilities. Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) researchers discovered three campaigns, between August and October 2021, targeting Android users with five zero-day vulnerabilities. The attacks aimed at installing the surveillance spyware Predator, developed by the North Macedonian firm Cytrox. The five 0-day vulnerabilities […]

Pierluigi Paganini April 26, 2022
Anomaly Six, a US surveillance firm that tracks roughly 3 billion devices in real-time

An interesting article published by The Intercept reveals the secretive business of a US surveillance firm named Anomaly Six. When we speak about the secretive business of surveillance businesses we often refer to the powerful tools developed by Israeli firms like NSO Group and Candiru, but many other firms operates in the shadow like the […]

Pierluigi Paganini April 19, 2022
NSO Group Pegasus spyware leverages new zero-click iPhone exploit in recent attacks

Researchers reported that threat actors leveraged a new zero-click iMessage exploit to install NSO Group Pegasus on iPhones belonging to Catalans. Researchers from Citizen Lab have published a report detailing the use of a new zero-click iMessage exploit, dubbed HOMAGE, to install the NSO Group Pegasus spyware on iPhones belonging to Catalan politicians, journalists, academics, and activists. […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 17, 2022
European Data Protection Supervisor call for bans on surveillance spyware like Pegasus

The European Data Protection Supervisor authority called for a ban on the development and the use of Pegasus-like commercial spyware. The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) authority this week called for a ban on the development and the use of surveillance software like the Pegasus spyware in the EU. Pegasus is a surveillance malware developed by […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 06, 2022
Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream emerges from the dark

One of the Apple iOS zero-day flaws exploited by the NSO group was also used by another surveillance firm named QuaDream. One of the vulnerabilities in Apple iOS that was previously exploited by the spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group was also separately used by another surveillance firm named QuaDream. Like NSO Group, QuaDream develops […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 09, 2022
US NCSC and DoS share best practices against surveillance tools

The US NCSC and the Department of State published joint guidance on defending against attacks using commercial surveillance tools. The US National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and the Department of State have published joint guidance that provides best practices on defending against attacks carried out by threat actors using commercial surveillance tools. In the last years, […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 29, 2021
Israel cut cyber export list, excluding totalitarian regimes

Israel’s Ministry of Defense bans the sale of surveillance software and offensive hacking tools to tens of countries. Israel’s Ministry of Defense has cut the list of countries to which Israeli surveillance and cybersecurity firms could sell their products and services. 65 countries have been excluded from the export list, which now includes only 37 […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 11, 2021
Donot Team targets a Togo prominent activist with Indian-made spyware

A Togolese human rights advocate was hit by mobile spyware that has been allegedly developed by an Indian firm called Innefu Labs. Researchers from Amnesty International have uncovered a cyberespionage campaign tracked as ‘Donot Team‘ (aka APT-C-35) which was orchestrated by threat actors in India and Pakistan. Experts believe the attackers used a spyware developed […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 29, 2021
Experts observed for the first time FinFisher infections involving usage of a UEFI bootkit

Experts spotted a new variant of the FinFisher surveillance spyware that is able to hijack and replace the Windows UEFI bootloader to infect Windows machines. Malware researchers at Kaspersky have spotted a new improvement of the infamous commercial FinSpy surveillance spyware (also known as Wingbird), it can now hijack and replace the Windows UEFI (Unified […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 15, 2021
Three formers NSA employees fined for providing hacker-for-hire services to UAE firm

Three former NSA employees entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that restricts their future activities and employment and requires the payment of a penalty. Three former NSA employees (Marc Baier, 49, Ryan Adams, 34, and Daniel Gericke, 40) entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that restricts their future activities and employment. The trio has worked as hackers-for-hire […]