A new spyware-for-hire, Predator, caught hacking phones of politicians and journalists – By Zack Whittaker (Techcrunch) / December 16, 2021
Cytrox is one of seven surveillance companies now banned from Meta’s platforms
While NSO Group was taking flak for hacking into the phones of journalists, activists and human rights defenders, an entire class of spyware makers and surveillance-for-hire outfits were operating as normal, largely unnoticed.
These private surveillance groups develop and deploy never-before-seen exploits that quietly hack into and steal the contents of a victim’s phone — call logs, text messages, emails, location data and more — often on behalf of authoritarian governments targeting their most vocal critics.
Now, following an investigation by researchers at Citizen Lab and Facebook’s new parent company, Meta, seven surveillance-for-hire groups have been banned from using the social media giant’s platforms to target other users.
CONTINUE > https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/16/cytrox-predator-phone-hacking-meta/
