Who watches the watchmen? Surveillanceware firms make bank, avoid oversight

Governments can't get enough of hacking services to use against their citizens, despite their protestations that elements of the trade need sanctioning. Only legitimate government agencies are supposed to use surveillanceware against criminal targets but governments and companies are widely abusing this, as we've covered many …

[elDog]

I'll guess that all data slurped by these spyware companies is also nicely archived.

It would be a real pity if all that juicy traffic between state leaders (and 'friends', etc.) weren't kept for future lucrative ventures.

I doubt that non-disclosures mean much to these types.

[Anonymous Coward]

'oversight, regulation & protection' ... what do you need those for ? ... said NO-ONE !!!

In the US of A 'oversight, regulation & protection' are the avowed enemies of Herr Trumps administration.

These ideas will spread as a means to avoid unwelcome eyes seeing things that are not meant to be seen !!!

We are in 'interesting times' continually now !!!

:)

[VoiceOfTruth]

The USA regime doesn't need all this

It just siphons everything it wants from MS, Google, Apple, etc. Plus all the whoops-not-again-embedded-passwords in Cisco.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Government (in)action

Plenty of time to update your 'range' while the world burns to the ground.

Meanwhile, Herr Trump is not so much 'fiddling as Rome burns' but rather banging some rocks together ... not exactly in time but close enough !!!

We all wait for the time when he is more associated with 'breaking rocks' at a 'nice' federal location in Colorado or thereabouts ....

:)

[TimMaher]

Re: Pall Mall Process.

Leave your club and turn left.

Walk up St James’s St. to your boot maker. Get measured for some new brogues.

Head into Jermyn St., to your favourite shirt maker, Thomas Pink perhaps? Get measured up for some nice Irish linen shirts with French cuffs.

Head into St James Sq. and then back down to your club. In time for cocktails and dinner.

[JPCavendish]

"Surveillanceware firms make bank"

Do they? Is that like making pee pee?

It's a ridiculous nonsensical phrase that should not be used by anybody over the age of 5. Please stop using it.

[ChrisElvidge]

I'm puzzled. Is it only Android/iOS? Can they hack my Lumia650?

[JPCavendish]

No, and yes; very easily. Whether they do or not has nothing to do with the security of the device, it's down to whether it's worth the time and effort. If you are a person of interest and they want in to your Lumia, it'll be trivial to develop an exploit now.