(Newsworthy.news) – Reports show the Biden administration revealed new policies enabling them to limit visas for foreign nationals engaged in commercial spyware.
Anyone found guilty of using commercial spyware to harass, threaten, or otherwise harm dissidents, activists, journalists, members of minority groups, or their families will face the consequences of the administration’s policy. Officials have indicated that anyone who assists or profits from the illegal use of the spyware may also be subject to visa restrictions.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US is taking action against the increasing commercial spyware exploitation throughout the world, which he claimed allows for human rights violations, information restriction, repression, extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.
Over a year ago, Biden signed an executive order prohibiting government use of commercial malware that threatens national security. The directive requires the director of any U.S. agency employing commercial products to verify that they don’t constitute a serious counterintelligence or security risk. The Biden administration essentially banned the Israeli firm NSO Group.
According to officials, any nation whose inhabitants have been discovered to have used or enabled the malicious use of spyware may be subject to the visa limitation policy. This includes nations whose citizens are now granted entry into the United States without a visa.
It is not anticipated that the State Department would publicly identify anyone affected by the policy due to the confidentiality of visa records protected under U.S. law.
According to security experts and a worldwide media investigation from July 2021, the most famous malware, Pegasus, developed by NSO Group, has infected over 1,000 individuals in 50 nations. It may be deployed remotely and discreetly on iOS and Android phones.
In November 2021, American firms were exempted from providing technology to NSO Group. Pegasus is allegedly sold only to government intelligence and law enforcement groups for use in the fight against criminals and terrorists. Apple sued the firm in the same month.
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