US puts new controls on Israeli spyware companies

By ALAN SUDERMAN
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Biden administration is putting new export limits on two Israeli hacker-for-hire companies — including the well-known spyware company NSO Group — saying their tools have been used to “conduct transnational repression.” Findings by a global media consortium earlier this year provided evidence that the spyware from NSO Group was allegedly used to infiltrate devices belonging to a range of targets, including journalists, activists and political opponents in 50 countries. The U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday that NSO Group and the firm Candiru are being added to the “entity list,” which limits their access to U.S. components and technology by requiring government permission for exports.