US President Joe Biden has moved to approve an executive order that bans government use of any commercial spyware products that have been identified to have been misused by foreign states. The misuse includes spying on citizens, dissidents, politicians, activists, and other individuals. The ruling applies to any and all tools that are used for spying purposes to suppress civil liberties or human rights. The executive order also states that spyware poses counterintelligence and security risks to Washington.
This includes commercial spyware produced by the Israeli NSO Group, which was previously identified in several campaigns against human rights activists and dissidents abroad. NSO Group is currently being sued by Apple and WhatsApp for deploying the spyware on hundreds of unassuming customers’ devices without their knowledge. The firm has also been blacklisted by the Commerce Department.
Read More: US Moves to Ban “Anti-Democratic” Spyware
