Mapping the Shadowy World of Spyware and Digital Forensics Sales

Spyware, Digital Forensics
Country Deploying Surveillance Technology.
Updated February 27, 2023
Steven Feldstein and Brian Kot

We’ve created an interactive graph that identifies the key vendors and clients in the spyware industry, highlighting relationships between governments and suppliers of intrusion software.

The dataset focuses on three overarching questions: Which governments show evidence of procuring and using commercial spyware? Which private sector companies are involved and what are their countries of origin? What activities have governments used the technology for?

Source material derives from the Citizen Lab, Freedom House, Privacy International, the CFR’ Cyber Operations Tracker, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Article 19, Access Now, and an assortment of related research organizations. The inventory focuses on incidents occurring between 2011 and 2023.

#spyware #CommercialSpyware
#map #mapping

Inventory XLXS - ZIP

Global Inventory of Commercial Spyware & Digital Forensics - Mendeley Data - 2nd March 2023

Global inventory of commercial spyware & digital forensics technology procured by governments. Focuses on three overarching questions: Which governments show evidence of procuring and using commercial spyware? Which commercial firms are selling targeted surveillance technology and what are their countries of origin? What types of activities are government agencies using the technology for?

This version includes several important changes:
--Incorporates two categories of targeted surveillance technologies: spyware and digital forensics (physical tools used to breach digital devices in order to extract and analyze stored data). It does not include other types of targeted surveillance, such as network monitoring/lawful interception technologies.

Global Inventory Doc : XLXS | Full ZIP

#spyware #CommercialSpyware
#inventory

Beyond the Veil of Surveillance: Private Sector Offensive Actors (PSOAs) – SOCradar - June 2023

The global cyber-surveillance industry has made “surveillance as a service” that includes various tools and advanced malware such as ‘Pegasus,’ ‘DevilsTongue,’ and ‘Predator‘ widely accessible, empowering both government and non-government entities with capabilities exclusive to highly sophisticated actors.

Individuals can protect themselves against attacks that exploit simple mistakes victims make, such as clicking on a link, opening untrusted documents, or neglecting device updates, by adopting basic security measures like maintaining awareness, enabling multi-factor authentication, and keeping devices and applications up-to-date. However, PSOAs also employ advanced techniques like zero-day and zero-click exploits that require no victim interaction, enabling surveillance

#PSOAs #CommercialSpyware
#spyware #Pegasus #Predator #DevilsTongue