A report by the Atlantic Council has found that the US is now the largest investor in the commercial spyware industry, which has enabled the surveillance of politicians, human rights activists, journalists and others, posing significant threats to human rights and national security.
The industry is continuing to grow and evolve, with the report identifying 34 new investors, including 12 in Italy, 26 in Israel and 31 in the EU Single Market and Switzerland, bringing the total number of investors to 128.
Investors include major hedge funds, prominent trading firms and mainstream financial services companies, which the report suggests channeled funds to Israeli company Cognyte, which has been linked to human rights abuses in Azerbaijan and Indonesia.
Notable US investments highlighted in the report include Florida-based national security-focused private equity firm AE Industrial Partners’ acquisition of Israeli spyware vendor Paragon Solutions, and the latter’s one-year contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Civil society groups have criticised the contract as “extremely troubling”, citing concerns over civil liberties and ICE’s rapid expansion of budget and authority.
