On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting to discuss the dangers of commercial spyware, marking the first time this type of software – also known as government or mercenary spyware – has been discussed in the Security Council. The purpose of the meeting, according to the US Mission to the UN, is to “address the implications of the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware for the maintenance of international peace and security.” The United States and 15 other countries invited the meeting. While the meeting was mostly informal and did not end with concrete proposals, most of the participating countries, including France, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, agreed that governments should act to control the spread and abuse of commercial spyware. Russia and China, on the other hand, dismissed these concerns. John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, a human rights organization that has been investigating spyware abuse since 2012, testified that he sounded the alarm about the proliferation of spyware created by “a secretive global ecosystem of developers, brokers, intermediaries, and companies boutique,” which “threatens international peace and security as well as human rights.” Scott-Railton called Europe “the epicenter of spyware abuses” and fertile ground for spyware companies, referring to a new TechCrunch investigation that shows Barcelona has become a hub for spyware companies in the last few years. Contact Us Do you have more information about government spyware manufacturers? From a non-working device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email. You can also contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop. Representatives of Poland and Greece, countries with their own spyware scandals involving software made by NSO Group and Intellexa, also intervened. The Polish representative pointed to local legislative efforts for “more control, including judicial control, of the relevant operational activities of the security and intelligence services,” and also recognized that spyware can be used in a legal way. “We are not saying that the use of spyware is not justified or necessary,” said the Polish representative. And Greek representatives pointed to the country’s 2022 bill to ban the sale of spyware. Russia, on the other hand, blames the United States. The representative of Russia, referring to the revelations of the history of NSA spying by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden, said that, “The United States is the one that created the right system for global surveillance and illegal interference in the private life of its citizens, and citizens of other countries, and continues to perfect it. This system. The Chinese representative criticized the meeting, saying that discussing “the so-called commercial spyware and maintaining international peace and security put the cart before the horse when compared to the more dangerous proliferation activities by the government.” Since the Stuxnet incident, the proliferation of cyber weapons sophisticated national has created a series of major internet risks, which are more dangerous than commercial spyware,” said the representative of China, referring to the Stuxnet malware developed as part of the US- Israel operation aimed at sabotaging Iran’s nuclear weapons program. During the Biden administration, the US government has multiple actions against commercial spyware, including sanctioning Israeli spyware makers NSO Group and Candiru, as well as Greece-based Intellexa and founder Tal Dilian; and impose a travel ban on people involved in the spyware industry. Last year, people who worked or used to work in the spyware industry expressed concern that sanctions and other punitive measures would have an impact.
Government calls for spyware regulation at UN Security Council meeting
