The Biden administration on Tuesday added the foreign commercial spyware companies Intellexa and Cytrox to a federal “entity list” that prohibits American companies from engaging in certain trade activities with them, after determining that the two firms pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
That action serves as a “strong signal” to entities that use commercial spyware, as well as the surveillance industry as a whole, a senior administration official said.“This is also an opportunity for private investors to consider the risk” and reevaluate whether to invest and support “such commercial spyware companies whose business practices threaten the security and safety of technology used by citizens around the world, not just here in the United States,” the official added.
The companies added to the entity list include Intellexa S.A. in Greece, Cytrox Holdings Crt in Hungary, Intellexa Limited in Ireland, and Cytrox AD in North Macedonia. They are being penalized for “trafficking in cyber exploits used to gain access to information systems, thereby threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide,” according to an