silversurfer
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- Aug 17, 2014
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More than 60 of the Apple, Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla product zero-day vulnerabilities that have come to light since 2016 have been attributed to commercial spyware vendors, Google said in a new report published on Tuesday.
The tech giant’s report provides insights into the operations of companies that help governments install spyware on devices. While these commercial spyware vendors claim that their products and services are only used for lawful surveillance, typically for law enforcement purposes, numerous investigations have shown that oppressive regimes are using them to target political opponents, journalists, dissidents, and human rights defenders.
Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) currently tracks roughly 40 commercial spyware vendors that develop and sell exploits and malware to governments.
In its latest report, Google names 11 of these vendors, including Candiru, Cy4Gate, DSIRF, Intellexa, Negg, NSO Group, PARS Defense, QuaDream, RCS Lab, Variston, and Wintego Systems.