Google and the U.S. government have joined forces to crack down on the spyware industry. In a one-two punch, the U.S. State Department announced a visa ban on individuals who misuse commercial spyware to unlawfully surveil and suppress people, as well as those who sell the spyware. The State Department emphasizes that the misuse of spyware threatens privacy, freedom of expression, and can lead to human rights abuses.
This move follows the Biden administration’s previous actions, which included blacklisting Israel’s NSO Group and banning U.S. government agencies from purchasing spyware from vendors known to support abusive users. However, this latest move is expected to have a greater impact as it targets individuals involved in the industry who rely on travel to the United States.
In conjunction with the visa ban, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) released a report on the commercial surveillance sector, highlighting specific vendors and detailing their tactics. The report focuses on the spyware supply chain and sheds light on how vulnerability researchers provide their findings to exploit brokers who then sell the information to spyware vendors and governments. The report also emphasizes the impact of commercial spyware on individuals, calling out countries like Mexico, the UAE, and Egypt for their involvement in targeting individuals with spyware.
The Google report makes timely recommendations for the U.S. government, suggesting heightened transparency requirements for the domestic surveillance industry and urging the government to review and disclose its own historical use of spyware tools. However, the effectiveness of these recommendations remains uncertain.
In other news, Chinese chipmakers are making progress despite U.S. efforts to hinder their development. National company SMIC is set to produce 5-nanometer, Huawei-designed phone chips using existing U.S. and Dutch equipment. Whether they can catch up with more cutting-edge designs is yet to be seen.
Former WeWork CEO, Adam Neumann, is attempting to buy back the now-bankrupt coworking company through his real estate venture, Flow Global, with financing from Third Point. However, WeWork has reportedly been refusing to engage in discussions.
Bluesky, a contender in the social media space, has opened up its platform to the public and introduced a new feature that allows users and organizations to develop their own content moderation services. This move aims to address concerns surrounding content moderation on social media platforms.
In the technology sector, Tesla’s share price dropped after software giant SAP announced it would no longer purchase Tesla vehicles due to delivery delays and price fluctuations. Meanwhile, AI technology has achieved a breakthrough in reading charred scrolls from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, thanks to machine learning algorithms.
As Google and the U.S. work together to crack down on the spyware industry, it remains to be seen how effective these measures will be in curbing the misuse of surveillance technology. Nonetheless, these actions send a clear message that privacy, freedom of expression, and human rights must be protected in the digital age.
