{"id":1977078,"date":"2023-07-19T07:55:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T11:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-owned-spyware-firms-blacklisted-by-us-commerce-department-over-national-security-risks\/"},"modified":"2023-07-19T07:58:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T11:58:06","slug":"israeli-owned-spyware-firms-blacklisted-by-us-commerce-department-over-national-security-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-owned-spyware-firms-blacklisted-by-us-commerce-department-over-national-security-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"US Commerce Department blacklists Israeli spyware firms due to national security risks."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fisraeli-owned-spyware-firms-blacklisted-by-us-commerce-department-over-national-security-risks%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1977078&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\"\u200c data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0719\/4256f560-6148-4454-88f7-ec5b2b78fc24\/audio.mp3?length=3468717&#038;duration=289\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Commerce Department\u2063 has\u2062 taken \u200daction\u2062 against\u2063 two\u200d European-based Israeli-owned spyware \u200ccompanies,\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-even-zoomers-want-tiktok-banned\/\" title=\"Poll: Even Zoomers Want TikTok Banned\">citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-got-it-newsmax-reporter-emerald-robinson-national-security-source-confirms-a-piece-of-hardware-has-been-secured-in-germany\/\" title=\"We Got It! - Newsmax Reporter Emerald Robinson: National Security Source Confirms \"A Piece of Hardware Has Been Secured\" in Germany\">national security<\/a> concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Intellexa S.A.\u200d in Greece and its entity\u2063 Intellexa \u200bLimited\u2064 in Ireland,\u200b along with Cytrox AD\u200d in North\u2064 Macedonia and its entity \u200dCytrox \u200bHoldings Crt in \u2064Hungary,\u2062 have\u2063 been added \u2064to \u200dthe technology\u2063 export \u2062blacklist, \u200baccording \u200bto\u2062 a press release by \u2063the Commerce\u200d Department on July 18.<\/p>\n<p>This \u200cmeans that \u200dthese companies \u2064will no \u2064longer be\u2062 able to conduct business\u200c or\u2062 make \u200btransactions\u200d with\u2064 American companies, significantly \u2063limiting\u200c their \u200caccess to commodities, software, \u2064and\u200c technology that could be used to \u200cdevelop surveillance \u200ctools\u200d that\u2063 may \u200bbe misused\u200d or\u2063 pose \u2064a \u2063threat \u200bto the\u2064 national security\u200d or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/persecution-fears-rise-as-biden-backs-away-from-religious-freedom-abroad\/\" title=\"Persecution Fears Rise as Biden Backs Away From Religious Freedom Abroad\">foreign policy interests<\/a>\u2062 of\u2064 the\u2063 United States.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to blacklist\u200d these\u200d companies\u2064 was\u2064 made due\u200c to\u2062 their involvement in &#8220;trafficking in \u200dcyber\u200c exploits\u2062 used to gain access to information \u2062systems, threatening\u200c the privacy and security \u2063of \u200dindividuals\u200c and organizations \u2063worldwide,&#8221;\u2062 officials stated.<\/p>\n<p>These\u200d companies now join\u200d Candiru, an Israeli-owned \u200dtechnology company based in Tel Aviv, and NSO \u2063Group \u200con the \u200dblacklist. NSO \u2064Group has\u200c faced continuous\u2064 criticism\u2064 for \u2064its Pegasus spyware \u2063and \u200calleged \u200cspying\u200c activities. Both companies \u2062were added \u2064to\u2064 the\u200b list in\u2063 2021.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The\u200c proliferation of commercial spyware \u200cposes\u200d distinct and growing counterintelligence and security risks\u2062 to the\u200d United\u2064 States, \u2064including \u2062to the\u2062 safety and \u2064security of U.S. government personnel\u2064 and\u2064 their\u2064 families,&#8221;\u200b emphasized\u2064 the\u200d Commerce\u200b Department.<\/p>\n<figure \u2064id=\"attachment_5201432\" \u2064style=\"width: 640px\" \u200cclass=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/17\/id5201432-04102023-DSC01456-Commerce-department-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption \u200bclass=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tDepartment \u2064of Commerce\u200d building \u200bin Washington on April \u206310, 2023.\u200b (Madalina Vasiliu\/The\u200c Epoch Times)<br \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<h2>Repression, Human\u2062 Rights Abuses<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;The \u200dmisuse of \u2064these tools globally has also\u200b facilitated repression \u200cand enabled\u2062 human \u200crights abuses, \u200cincluding intimidating political opponents, \u200bcurbing\u2062 dissent, \u2062limiting freedom of expression,\u200c and monitoring and \u2063targeting activists\u2063 and \u200djournalists,&#8221; the \u200cCommerce Department \u2063stated.<\/p>\n<p>According to its\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/intellexa.com\/\">website,<\/a>\u200c Intellexa develops and\u2063 integrates technologies \u200dto \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-owned-spyware-firms-blacklisted-by-us-commerce-department-over-national-security-risks\/\" title=\"US Commerce Department blacklists Israeli spyware firms due to national security risks.\">empower \u200dlaw enforcement\u2063 agencies<\/a> and\u200d intelligence\u200b agencies in \u200bprotecting communities.<\/p>\n<p>Cytrox\u200d does \u200bnot\u2063 appear \u200bto have\u200c a website.<\/p>\n<p>Both \u200ccompanies\u2063 have \u200dbeen linked to\u200d several \u2063alleged \u2063surveillance \u200dincidents, \u200cas reported\u200b by various \u2063sources.<\/p>\n<p>Cytrox&#8217;s &#8220;predator&#8221; spyware\u200d was used \u2064to hack\u200c the mobile phone \u200bof\u2063 Ayman\u200c Nour, \u200dan \u2062Egyptian politician\u200d living in exile\u200c in\u2063 Turkey, \u200dand an unnamed\u200b Egyptian television\u2063 journalist, according to \u2063the \u200dCitizen Lab\u2062 at the\u2064 University\u2063 of \u200dToronto, which focuses\u200b on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trudeau-criticized-for-chiding-muslims-over-lgbt-content-in-schools\/\" title=\"Trudeau under fire for reprimanding Muslims on LGBT education.\">human\u200b rights<\/a> and \u200bglobal\u200d security.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, one \u200bof Cytrox&#8217;s products was reportedly \u2062used \u2064by \u2062the Greek government to \u2063hack the mobile\u2062 phone\u2064 of \u200ca former Meta security executive.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Intellexa\u200b was\u2064 fined 50,000 euros\u2064 ($56,129) \u200cby\u200d the Data Protection Authority in \u2063Greece in \u2062January for failing to cooperate\u2064 with an ongoing\u2063 investigation into\u200b the \u2063use of spyware.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US Commerce Department added Intellexa S.A. and Intellexa Limited, based in Greece and Ireland, and Cytrox AD and Cytrox Holdings Crt, based in North Macedonia and Hungary, to its trade blacklist due to national security concerns. These European-based Israeli-owned spyware companies are now restricted from technology exports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":1977079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1977078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1977079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}