Security News > 2024 > February > Sandvine put on America's export no-fly list after Egypt used network tech for spying

The US Commerce Department has blacklisted Sandvine for selling its networking monitoring technology to Egypt, where the Feds say the gear was used to spy on political and human-rights activists.

Chengdu made the naughty list for apparently acquiring and attempting to acquire US goods on behalf of China's University of Electronic Science and Technology, which was already on the Entity List.

Sandvine earned its spot for supplying "Deep packet inspection technology to the Government of Egypt, where it is used in mass web-monitoring and censorship to block news as well as target political actors and human rights activists," according to the Americans [PDF] in a notice published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.

When asked about these allegations, and the export restrictions, a Sandvine spokesperson told The Register the biz hopes to clear up the situation: "Sandvine is aware of the action announced by the US Commerce Department. We are committed to working closely with government officials to understand, address and resolve their concerns. Sandvine solutions help provide a reliable and safe internet, and we take allegations of misuse very seriously."

In 2018, Citizen Lab claimed Sandvine PacketLogic devices were used to deliver nation-state malware to "Hundreds" of internet users in Turkey and Egypt.

Predator's developer Cytrox, which is now called Intellexa, was added to the Entity List in July 2023.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/27/sandvine_us_entity_list/