Il Department of Commerce americano blacklisted two European IT companies that they apparently made spyware.
The communication in this regard, made public by the Department itself yesterday, would have clarified how both companies use software to monitor users Meta. All through systems Android e iOS.
Exploiting some vulnerabilities of the aforementioned operating systems and building hundreds of fake accounts on Meta’s social networks. In this sense, spyware would have acted by surveilling activists, politicians and journalists from all over the world.
The two companies in question Intellexa e Cytroxhave been jointly described as operating in the context of “exploits used to gain access to information systems, threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations around the worldin an official press release from the Bureau of Industry and Security.
Two European companies on the US blacklist: here’s why
Overall, the two entities have branches spread across territories ranging from Greece, Ireland, Hungary and North Macedonia. Cytrox would produce spyware called Predator which, according to US sources, has been used by some countries to access the mobile phones of different users, according to an analysis conducted by Citizen Lab.
As reported by the New York Times, Predator was proposed to a Ukrainian intelligence agency in the recent past. In this sense, this spyware has already been adopted by the intelligent Greek to spy on a Meta employee.
Intellexa, however, according to American experts would be responsible for Nebula, a social media data collection and analysis tool. According to the personal website of Israeli Tal Dilian, the founder of the company “Intellexa develops and integrates technologies that enable law enforcement and intelligence agencies to collect and analyze data with the most advanced methods“.
The Commerce Department’s action has, in effect, added these two names to the notorious Entity List. Simply put, it’s a highly restrictive list that prevents American companies from providing technology and data to businesses.