The US wants to know aboutspyware, and any kind of surveillance they use..
The new US government decision was included in a draft of the Information Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the bill that provides for business grants for the coming year.
According to the draft bill (Section 503), US officials are asking the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to submit a report to Congress on the status of spyware available on the market. This includes both the companies that make the tools hackingand the foreign governments or entities that use them.
The text of the bill is proof that America's lawmakers have begun to worry about the commercialization of powerful hacking and spyware tools.
Over the past decade, the number of companies selling such equipment has increased dramatically. Some of these companies have a very public image, heavily advertising their exploits and branding themselves as “ providers of tools intended for government and law enforcement use only .”
But there are also companies that operate in a more clandestine manner. They sell spyware and hacking products through illegal “offshore”to circumvent export controls. Worse, they are more than willing to sell spyware equipment to repressive governments, who use it against dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists.
Now, the US Congress expects the DNI to assess the current situation and propose solutions to limit the spread of Spyware tools.
The subsidy bill recommends working with technology companies to measure and delineate tools, in conjunction with classic search methods such as controls , diplomatic pressure, or trade agreements.
John Scott-Railton, a security researcher atCitizen Lab, which specializes in investigating commercial spyware, was the first to spot the new section of the bill. He described it in a tweet as "very bad news for the usual bad actors."
The bill passed the Senate Intelligence Committee last week by a vote of 14-1. It will be put to a vote later this summer.
While there have been several incidents of spyware harassing and monitoring journalists and politicians, citizens did not consider this threat serious enough, except for those in the cybersecurity circle.
Public opinion changed radically when in October 2019 Facebook sued hacking tool creators, "NSO Group" , for creating and selling a WhatsApp exploit that was used to spy on users around the world .
