The US Is Now the Largest Investor In Commercial Spyware (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0179170104
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/11/2048200/the-us-is-now-the-largest-investor-in-commercial-spyware
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/09/the-us-is-now-the-largest-investor-in-commercial-spyware/
> The United States has emerged as the [1]largest investor in commercial spyware -- a global industry that has enabled the covert surveillance of journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, diplomats, and others, posing grave threats to human rights and national security. In 2024, 20 new US-based spyware investors were identified, bringing the total number of American backers of this technology to 31. This growth has largely outpaced other major investing countries such as Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom, according to a [2]new report published today by the Atlantic Council.
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> The study surveyed 561 entities across 46 countries between 1992 and 2024, identifying 34 new investors. This brings the total to 128, up from 94 in the dataset published last year. The number of identified investors in the EU Single Market, plus Switzerland, stands at 31, with Italy -- a key spyware hub -- accounting for the largest share at 12. Investors based in Israel number 26. US-based investors include major hedge funds D.E. Shaw & Co. and Millennium Management, prominent trading firm Jane Street, and mainstream financial-services company Ameriprise Financial -- all of which, according to the Atlantic Council, have channeled funds to Israeli lawful-interception software provider Cognyte, a company allegedly linked to human rights abuses in Azerbaijan and Indonesia, among others. [...]
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> Apart from focusing on investment, the Atlantic Council notes that the global spyware market is "growing and evolving," with its dataset expanded to include four new vendors, seven new resellers or brokers, 10 new suppliers, and 55 new individuals linked to the industry. Newly identified vendors include Israel's Bindecy and Italy's SIO. [...] The study reveals the addition of three new countries linked to spyware activity -- Japan, Malaysia, and Panama. Japan in particular is a signatory to international efforts to curb spyware abuse, including the Joint Statement on Efforts to Counter the Proliferation and Misuse of Commercial Spyware and the Pall Mall Process Code of Practice for States.
The Atlantic Council's Jen Roberts, who also worked on the report, urged expanding [3]Executive Order 14105 to also include spyware. He also emphasized preserving [4]Executive Order 14093 , noting that U.S. purchasing power is a key lever in shaping and constraining the global spyware market. "US purchasing power is a significant tool in shaping and constraining the global market for spyware," said Roberts.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/09/the-us-is-now-the-largest-investor-in-commercial-spyware/
[2] https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/mythical-beasts-diving-into-the-depths-of-the-global-spyware-market/
[3] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/11/2023-17449/addressing-united-states-investments-in-certain-national-security-technologies-and-products-in
[4] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/30/2023-06730/prohibition-on-use-by-the-united-states-government-of-commercial-spyware-that-poses-risks-to
The US has an extortion industry. (Score:2)
The US seems to the worlds largest extortion industry and spyware is an incredibly profitable tool for that kind of business. Jeff Bezos laid it all for us when he took out a full page ad accusing Mohammed Bin Salman of hacking his phone and the Dave Pecker/AMI using their access to his data in an extortion attempt.
Since this event there seem to be more shady tabloids weaponing more and more hacked cell phone data. All of these outlets seem to have deliberately designed themselves to be some monetized form
*not including China (Score:1, Interesting)
Who decided that the [1]actual biggest spyware/surveillance operation in the world [wired.com] doesn't count?
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/geedge-networks-mass-censorship-leak/
They've missed the really big elephant (Score:4, Interesting)
Ads as spyware! The whole online ad industry has been built around tracking individuals. That utterly dwarfs all other investments.
Of course, USA largest in a lot of things. (Score:1)
From the fine article:
> âoeUS purchasing power is a significant tool in shaping and constraining the global market for spyware.â
I can recall going back years that the USA had 5% of the world population but produced 20% of the world annual economic output. Looking to verify that statistic I discovered that's no longer true. Now it is closer to 4% of the population and 25% of the economic output.
If we just look at population and land area the USA comes in 3rd in both, so if the USA didn't rank highly on a great many things then I'd be shocked. Just by chance the USA would rank 1st in many things if all else we
Re: (Score:2)
You're looking at stock manipulation and other types of financial chicanery as "economic output", which is wrong. This article is one of several by this author pointing out the differences in how the US and Chinese economies are measured. I highly recommend browsing though his articles, they're very interesting.
[1]https://kdwalmsley.substack.co... [substack.com]
[1] https://kdwalmsley.substack.com/p/are-stock-investors-valuing-chinese
The US Is Now ... (Score:3)
The US Is Now coming out of the closet