The US has banned Israeli company NSO Group, which sells the Pegasus spyware, and three other companies.
The prohibition means US companies wishing to import or export products or services related to NSO Group must now obtain a license from the government.
The US ban could represent a severe blow for NSO Group, not only in terms of its ability to sell products to customers in the US but also by restricting its access to US technologies for the development of future ones.
US companies can no longer have any kind of relationship with NSO since "there is a risk of becoming involved in activities that are dangerous to national security," thus leading to heavy government penalties.
The Entity List update also included Candiru, another Israeli company active in developing and selling spyware. NSO Group and Candiru were added to the Entity List based on a determination that they developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to maliciously target government officials, journalists, business people, activists, academics, and embassy workers, according to the State Department.
In a ruling by the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the government said these tools have “enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression, which is the practice of authoritarian governments targeting dissidents, journalists and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent. Such practices threaten the rules-based international order.”
RELATED RESOURCE
In addition, Positive Technologies and COSEINC were added to the Entity List based on a determination they “misuse and traffic cyber tools that are used to gain unauthorized access to information systems in ways that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy of the United States, threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide.”
“The United States is committed to aggressively using export controls to hold companies accountable that develop, traffic, or use technologies to conduct malicious activities that threaten the cybersecurity of members of civil society, dissidents, government officials, and organizations here and abroad,” said commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.
The announcement comes as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to put human rights at the center of US foreign policy, including by working to stem the proliferation of digital tools used for repression.
-
Box reveals new AI capabilities at BoxWorks 2025News Extract and Automate will help businesses make better use of their data, the cloud company claims
-
Big tech CEOs are fueling the fire of AI confusionOpinion Mixed messaging on the effectiveness of AI only raises fears that the technology will steal human jobs
-
‘Hugely significant’: Experts welcome UK government plans to back down in Apple encryption battle – but it’s not quite over yetNews Tulsi Gabbard, US director of national intelligence, has confirmed the UK plans to back down on plans that would see Apple forced to create a "back door" for authorities.
-
‘All US forces must now assume their networks are compromised’ after Salt Typhoon breachNews The announcement marks the second major Salt Typhoon incident in the space of two years
-
‘A huge national security risk’: Thousands of government laptops, tablets, and phones are missing and nowhere to be foundNews A freedom of information disclosure shows more than 2,000 government-issued phones, tablets, and laptops have been lost or stolen, prompting huge cybersecurity concerns.
-
The UK cybersecurity sector is worth over £13 billion, but experts say there’s huge untapped potential if it can overcome these hurdlesAnalysis A new report released by the DSIT revealed the UK’s cybersecurity sector generated £13.2 billion over the last year
-
UK cyber experts on red alert after Salt Typhoon attacks on US telcosAnalysis The UK could be next in a spate of state-sponsored attacks on telecoms infrastructure
-
"Thinly spread": Questions raised over UK government’s latest cyber funding schemeThe funding will go towards bolstering cyber skills, though some industry experts have questioned the size of the price tag
-
Healthcare data breaches are out of control – here's how the US plans to beef up security standardsNews Changes to HIPAA security rules will require organizations to implement MFA, network segmentation, and more
-
The US could be set to ban TP-Link routersNews US authorities could be lining up the largest equipment proscription since the 2019 ban on Huawei networking infrastructure
