Alphabet Inc’s Google said in a report that a hacking tool developed in Italy was used to spy on Apple Inc and Android handsets in Kazakhstan and the European country.
Additionally, the report highlighted that RCS Labs, a Milan-based company whose website lists European law enforcement agencies as clients, built tools to spy on private messages and contacts of targeted devices. .
Google said: “These vendors are enabling the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and arming governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house.”
It comes as US and European regulators consider possible updates to laws governing the sale and importation of spyware.
Meanwhile, RCS Lab said its goods and services are compliant with European regulations and support criminal investigations by law enforcement. In addition, it told Reuters that “RCS Lab personnel are not exposed, nor participate in any activity conducted by related customers”, and noted that any misuse of its products was condemned. .
Google said it had taken precautions to protect Android users and notified them of the spyware.
It should be noted that Google researchers found that RCS Lab had previously collaborated with the controversial, defunct Italian spying firm Hacking Team, which similarly created surveillance software for foreign governments to tap into phones and computers.
The hacking team was busted in 2015 after falling victim to a major hack that led to the disclosure of several internal documents.
spyware campaign
As more businesses make interception tools for law enforcement agencies, the global market for spyware for governments has expanded. They are accused of supporting governments that, in some situations, use these tools for civil and human rights suppression by anti-surveillance campaigners.
Regarding the latest findings, Google said: “These vendors are enabling the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and armed governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house.”
Billy Leonard, a senior Google researcher, said that in some cases, Google said it believed hackers using RCS spyware worked with the target’s Internet service provider, which suggests that their government There were ties to supported actors.
However, an increase in the use of such devices has been noticed by security researchers as well. According to Avast, a global leader in digital security and privacy technologies, there was a 51% increase in the use of spy and stalkerware between March and June 2020 compared to January and February 2020.
Later in 2021, popular Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky said a massive spyware campaign targeted thousands of ICS (Industrial Control System) computers around the world.
It was said that more than 35,000 devices in 195 countries were the target of a new piece of malware discovered by Kaspersky experts between January 20 and November 10 last year.
The advanced espionage capabilities of this new malware, dubbed ‘pseudomancrypt’ because it resembles the Manuscrypt malware used by the advanced persistent threat (APT) group Lazarus, have been targeted both government institutions and ICS in various industries. has been seen doing.
But the spyware industry came into limelight when NSO’s report on Pegasus spyware revealed startling details. It was claimed that the tool was used by several governments to spy on journalists, activists and dissidents.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news watch top videos And live TV Here.