\n<\/p>\n
Infection usually starts through malicious links and fake apps, but it is also taking place via \u201cmore subtle methods,\u201d says Richard LaTulip, a field CISO at security company Recorded Future, which collaborated<\/a> with Google\u2019s threat intelligence team on the Predator spyware findings.<\/p>\n LaTulip cites the example of recent research on malicious browser extensions<\/a> affecting millions of users that shows \u201chow seemingly harmless tools can become surveillance devices.\u201d<\/p>\n These techniques, often developed by nation-state adversaries linked to governments, indicate a trend toward \u201cmore covert, persistent, and device-level compromises,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Over the past few years, spyware has become a growing issue. Governments and the companies that make the malware say the surveillance tools are used to target only criminals and terrorists, or for national security purposes.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the truth is that human rights activists, journalists, and many others across the world have been unlawfully targeted with spyware,\u201d Rebecca White, Amnesty International\u2019s researcher on targeted surveillance<\/a>, tells WIRED. \u201cIn this way, spyware can be used as a tool of repression\u2014to silence people speaking truth to power.\u201d<\/p>\nA Bigger Problem<\/h2>\n