Trump Risks Key Surveillance Authority Over ‘Unqualified’ Spy-Chief Pick

US lawmakers are alarmed that Bill Pulte, a housing official with no intelligence experience, is poised to take charge of one of the government's most powerful surveillance tools...

OpenAI Bans Accounts Misusing ChatGPT for Surveillance and Influence Campaigns

OpenAI on Friday revealed that it banned a set of accounts that used its ChatGPT tool to develop a suspected artificial intelligence AI-powered surveillance tool. The social media listening tool is said to likely originate from China and is powered by one of Meta's Llama models, with the accounts...

NSO Group Exploited WhatsApp to Install Pegasus Spyware Even After Meta's Lawsuit

Legal documents released as part of an ongoing legal tussle between Meta's WhatsApp and NSO Group have revealed that the Israeli spyware vendor used multiple exploits targeting the messaging app to deliver Pegasus, including one even after it was sued by Meta for doing so. They also show that NSO...

Microsoft MSHTML Flaw Exploited to Deliver MerkSpy Spyware Tool

Unknown threat actors have been observed exploiting a now-patched security flaw in Microsoft MSHTML to deliver a surveillance tool called MerkSpy as part of a campaign primarily targeting users in Canada, India, Poland, and the U.S. "MerkSpy is designed to clandestinely monitor user activities,...

U.S. Imposes Visa Restrictions on those Involved in Illegal Spyware Surveillance

The U.S. State Department said it's implementing a new policy that imposes visa restrictions on individuals who are linked to the illegal use of commercial spyware to surveil civil society members. "The misuse of commercial spyware threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly,...

E.U. Officials Reportedly Targeted with Israeli Pegasus Spyware

Senior officials in the European Union were allegedly targeted with NSO Group's infamous Pegasus surveillance tool, according to a new report from Reuters. At least five individuals, including European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, are said to have been singled out in total, the news agen...

An Explosive Spyware Report Shows the Limits of iOS Security

Amnesty International sheds alarming light on an NSO Group surveillance tool—and the gaps in Apple’s and Google's defenses...

Spy Planes Equipped with Dirtbox Devices Collecting Smartphone Data

The U.S. government is reportedly using spy airplanes equipped with special military-grade snooping equipment to eavesdrop on cell phone information from millions of smartphone users in U.S, according to a new report. This little device, nicknamed "Dirtbox", is being used to mimic mobile phone...

Precision Espionage miniFlame Malware Tied to Flame, Gauss

One of three previously unseen pieces of malware discovered during forensic analysis of the Flame malware command-and-control servers has been identified as a secondary surveillance tool deployed against specially identified targets, and only after an initial Flame or Gauss compromise, researcher...