U. S. government has been infected with spyware
2023.03.27 17:53
U. S. government has been infected with spyware
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – According to a senior administration official, commercial hacking tools, also known as spyware, were used to target at least 50 U.S. government employees stationed in ten countries. This brought attention to the growing threat posed by offensive cyber vendors and prompted the White House to establish regulations to prevent the spying.
On Monday, President Joseph Biden of the United States will sign an executive order to stop the malicious use of digital spy tools worldwide against American personnel and civil society.
In 2021, Reuters reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:) had been the target of such a large number of attacks against U.S. government employees. An unidentified attacker used sophisticated Israeli-made spyware to target the iPhones of at least nine employees of the U.S. State Department.
At the time, it was the most widespread known use of these tools to hack U.S. officials.
The broader internal government review was prompted by the earlier reporting by Reuters, according to the senior administration official.
A senior administration official stated that the new executive order is intended to exert pressure on the secretive industry by imposing new restrictions on the purchasing decisions made by U.S. government defense, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies.
According to the official, the goal is to shift how the shadowy market operates and limit sales to specific actors by enforcing stricter regulations on which organizations can do business with the US government.
“We have obviously recognized the expansion and abuse of spyware as a danger to public safety,” the authority expressed, in light of a broad U.S. government audit that started in 2021. ” The danger of abuse all over the planet additionally embroils our center international strategy interests.”
