The UN security council held a meeting on Tuesday January 14, in the presence of the US along with 15 other countries, to bring to the table the spyware regulation and discuss the dangers of commercial spyware.
“The goal of the meeting was to address the implications of the proliferation and dangers of using spyware for the maintenance of international peace and security,” said the US Mission to the UN.
Achieving Spyware Control
France, South Korea, and the UK have pledged to strengthen regulations on commercial spyware, addressing growing concerns over its proliferation and potential misuse. Yet, the UN meeting didn’t end with any concrete proposals.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, has long highlighted spyware risks. In his 2012 testimony, he warned of a growing secretive global ecosystem of developers, brokers, middlemen, and boutique firms proliferating spyware. He emphasized the threat this poses to international peace, security, and human rights.
Moreover, Scott-Railton accused Europe of being the base for spyware agencies and the center of spyware abuses. According to a recent investigation done by TechCrunch, the country of Barcelona showed to be a home for dangerous spyware companies for the past years.
Representatives from Poland and Greece, both grappling with spyware scandals involving NSO Cyber Intelligence Group and Intellexa, respectively, addressed spyware regulation.
Poland’s representative highlighted legislative efforts to further push judicial oversight and intensify control over security and intelligence services’ use of spyware, all while reaching a comprehensive acknowledgement to the spyware’s legal use. The representative also focused on the need for stronger safeguards.
“We are not saying that the use of spyware is never justified or even required,” explained the Polish delegate, while the Greek delegate spoke of a 2022 bill presented in his country to ban the sale of spyware because of the dangers of spyware.
In its own move, Russia pointed at the United States. Against the backdrop of Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA surveillance, the Russian delegate said, “It was the United States specifically who created a veritable system for global surveillance and illegal interference in the private lives of their own citizens, as well as those of other countries, and continue to refine this system.”
Across the Pacific, China’s representative, said that “the so-called commercial spyware and the maintenance of international peace and security” were out of place on the list for discussion when compared with proliferation activities of governments, which were far more harmful.
“Since the Stuxnet incident, the spread of advanced national cyber weapons has caused far greater internet risks, which were more destructive than commercially available spyware,” said the Chinese representative, referring to the Stuxnet malware from a US Israeli operation to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.
The US government has put a lot of spyware regulations against commercial spyware under the Biden administration, including sanctioning Israeli spyware firms NSO Group and Candiru, as well as Greece-based Intellexa and its founder Tal Dilian.
Final Thoughts
Increasing Spyware risks need to be addressed with great urgency and in an internationally coordinated fashion especially with the increasing spyware and cyberattacks against government departments.
However, the reaction from countries that have previously been accused, such as China and Russia, will be a major determinant of whether any anti spyware law enforcement attempt has a lot of potential to succeed.
Their responses could mirror the potential lack of ease regarding the actual international agreement and enforcement at hand and showcase how complicated this may get between security concerns, protection of privacy, and sovereignty issues internationally.
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