US blacklists Israeli firm NSO Group for use of spyware

The US Commerce Department on Wednesday blacklisted Israeli firms NSO Group and Candiru, accusing the companies of providing spyware to foreign governments that "used these tools to maliciously target" journalists, embassy workers and activists.

Commerce officials added the Israeli firms to its so-called "entity list," effectively banning the companies from buying software components from US vendors without a license.

Also added to the list were Russian firm Positive Technologies and Singaporean firm Computer Security Initiative Consultancy. Commerce accused these two firms of trafficking "in cyber tools used to gain unauthorized access to information systems."