Lawmakers urge Biden administration to sanction NSO Group and other cyber surveillance firms
CNN
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers have called on the Biden administration to sanction four cyber surveillance firms for "enabling human rights abuses" by "selling powerful surveillance technology to authoritarian governments."
The letter, led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California, asks the Treasury Department to sanction Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group, Emirati cybersecurity firm DarkMatter and European surveillance firms Nexa Technologies and Trovicor -- as well as the firms' top executives.
The lawmakers allege that the private market for hacking tools used to spy on journalists and diplomats has run amok, and they want the Biden administration to expand its crackdown on the invasive software.
President Joe Biden has given permission to Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory with American munitions, though he has restricted their use so Kyiv can only hit targets over the border close to Kharkiv after Russia made significant advances around the city in the northeastern part of the country close to the Russian border, two US officials told CNN.