The Spyware Industry Continues to Thrive ...

The Global Spyware Industry Continues to Thrive. Spyware and digital forensics technologies are being used for political repression around the world. These software can remotely infiltrate the most intimate spaces of a target’s digital life to steal their information and secrets.

Spyware is malicious software that enters a user's computer, gathers data from the device and user, and sends it to third parties without their consent. Governments in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, are believed to have spyware capabilities developed by “their own intelligence agencies rather than private military contractors.

Ongoing high demand for intrusion technology contributes to the resilience of the commercial spyware and digital forensics market. Even if one supplier is sanctioned, there is sufficient financial motivation for other suppliers to fill in the gap. As the adoption of Spyware increases the market has pegged to reach $12 billion .

A report says, Israel is the leading exporter of spyware and digital forensics tools documented in the global inventory: There are fifty-six out of seventy-four governments applied, now have procured commercial spyware and digital forensics technologies from firms that are either based in or connected to Israel, such as NSO Group, Cellebrite, Cytrox, and Candiru.

A recent report says, Pegasus can turn phones into surveillance devices and can hoover up encrypted WhatsApp and Signal messages surreptitiously. Pegasus-style spyware attack hits politicians and journalists, via iPhone exploits.

Pegasus, when planted on a target’s mobile phone, can intercept communications made on a range of messaging platforms including WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook, Skype, Viber, and Gmail, among others. Numerous key individuals associated with both the companies have prior connections with another surveillance vendor, Verint, as well as Israeli intelligence agencies," the reports mentioned.

Unlike Pegasus, another Israel company sells Spyware by the name Cognyte Software Ltd , has offices across the world and also present in India. The company has positioned itself as the global leader in investigative analytics software that empowers governments and enterprises with "Actionable Intelligence for a Safer World" on its website. Recently, there is news that Cognyte is trying to sell its product to the Indian Government.

At the same time, some governments have begun to implement regulations and legal frameworks to control the use of spyware, but these efforts are often difficult to enforce in practice.

Going forward, while there are indications that the spyware industry continues to thrive, there are also efforts being made to combat its use and protect individuals' privacy rights.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA