Bad actors have used commercial spyware to target at least 50 US government officials, the Biden administration said last year as it unveiled an executive order banning federal agencies from using the technology. In 2021, the US government said NSO Group’s spyware had been used against roughly a dozen State Department employees serving in Africa. The US government has sought to build international support for curbing the use of commercial spyware, and last month, it announced visa restrictions for anyone seeking to enter the United States who has been involved in the commercial spyware industry. The use of commercial spyware “has been linked to arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in the most egregious of cases,” the State Department said at the time. On Tuesday, the Biden administration vowed to watch closely for signs that Intellexa may seek to circumvent the sanctions.

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Persons: Washington CNN —, ”, Tal Jonathan Dilian, Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, Côte, Biden, Oregon Democratic Sen, Ron Wyden Organizations: Washington CNN, Biden, Treasury Department, Intellexa Consortium, US, Google, Pegasus, Intellexa, Amnesty International, State Department, Commerce Department, Oregon Democratic Locations: Egypt, Armenia, Greece, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Serbia, Spain, Indonesia, Africa, States