Security News > 2023 > July > U.S. Government Blacklists Cytrox and Intellexa Spyware Vendors for Cyber Espionage

The U.S. government on Tuesday added two foreign commercial spyware vendors, Cytrox and Intellexa, to an economic blocklist for weaponizing cyber exploits to gain unauthorized access to devices and "Threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide."

Cytrox is the maker of a mobile mercenary spyware called Predator that's analogous to NSO Group's Pegasus.

It's part of what's called the Intellexa Alliance, a marketing label for a consortium of mercenary surveillance vendors that emerged in 2019, according to the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab.

This alliance purportedly consists of Nexa Technologies, WiSpear/Passitora Ltd., Cytrox, and Senpai, with the exact connections between Cytrox and Intellexa remaining nebulous to date.

The move builds on U.S. actions in November 2021, when the U.S. government added Israeli companies NSO Group and Candiru to the Entity List for developing software to target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.

The development also comes as the Biden administration signed an executive order that restricts the use of commercial spyware by federal government agencies.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2023/07/us-government-blacklists-cytrox-and.html