The Commerce Department blacklisted two European cyber firms that build spyware software, the Commerce Department announced Tuesday, including technology hawked by both firms that was used to surveil Meta users and reportedly at least one Meta employee. The software exploited vulnerabilities in Android and iOS software and deployed hundreds of spoof Meta accounts to surveil activists, politicians and journalists around the world. Meta in December 2021 warned thousands of Facebook users that they'd been targeted by spyware-for-hire software, including Predator. The New York Times reported extensively on Intellexa's Predator product, and the company's efforts to sell it to a Ukrainian intelligence agency. Intellexa's Predator was also used by Greek intelligence to spy on a Meta trust and safety employee, the Times reported.

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Persons: Gina Raimondo, —, Cytrox —, they'd, Tal Dilian, Intellexa, Biden, Trump Organizations: Commerce, The Commerce Department, Commerce Department, Industry, Security, Citizen Lab, Export, Meta, Facebook, Israel Defense Forces, The New York Times, Times, Huawei Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Greece, Ireland, Hungary, North Macedonia, Ukrainian