In a first, US and 10 other nations issue declaration against spyware use

The US and 10 other nations issued the first-ever significant anti-spyware declaration on Thursday (March 30).US President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Wednesday (March 29), prohibiting the US federal government from using spyware.

Despite the fact that neither announcement singled out Israel, the NSO Group was frequently brought up in a media briefing by a senior US administration official, and a recent US think tank report asserted that Israeli spyware (comprising several groups) has dominated the vast majority of the world spyware market, reported the Jerusalem Post.

The Jerusalem Post has discovered that several of the organisations on the list still employ commercial Israeli spyware, and their stance on what constitutes misuse of spyware and what it means to utilise spyware lawfully may be more complex.

Due to the fact that many countries' intelligence and law enforcement agencies require such tools to combat terrorism, organised crime, and drug lords, nations hadbeen unwilling to take a firm stance against spyware up until now.

As a result of NSO and other Israeli companies being included in the US Commerce Department's "blacklist" in late 2021, Israel's cyberattack industry has already suffered significant setbacks. This latest announcement may signal the beginning of a new, more severe crackdown on spyware.

The statement said Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, theUnited Kingdomand the United States all “recognise the threat posed by the misuse of commercial spyware and the need for strict domestic and international controls on the proliferation and use of such technology.”

Too often, such powerful and invasive tools have been used to target and intimidate perceived opponents and facilitate efforts to curb dissent; limit freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, or association; enable human rights violations and abuses or suppression of civil liberties; or track or target individuals without proper legal authorisation, safeguards, or oversight,” it added.

In addition, the declaration said the nations would take concrete steps to push back on spyware’s marketability by “working within our respective systems to establish robust guardrails and procedures to ensure that any commercial spyware use by our governments is consistent with respect for universal human rights, the rule of law, and civil rights and civil liberties.”

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