The security industry, along with the US government, is exploring ways to curb the sale and usage of surveillance tools, reports Lindsey O’Donnell-Welch. “However, they face an array of challenges. Though spyware tools violate privacy and human rights, they are used widely by law enforcement, intelligence, and government agencies – even reportedly by the US government itself – and it’s difficult to contain something at such a global scale.”

Citing the recent blacklisting of Intellexa and Cytrox, O’Donnell-Welch notes that export control listing is one way the US government is trying to crack down on spyware.

Security experts from Cisco Talos, however, say that “taking a piecemeal approach where each country applies their own rules and regulations is riddled with pitfalls and caveats where certain countries will always skirt what is considered ethical. It's time for global action regulating when and how these tools can be leveraged with oversight and consequences for abuse.”

Read more at Decipher.