Data breach reveals Catwatchful ‘stalkerware’ is spying on thousands of phones

A security vulnerability in a stealthy Android spyware operation called Catwatchful has exposed thousands of its customers, including its administrator. The bug, which was discovered by security researcher Eric Daigle, spilled the spyware app’s full database of email addresses and Read More …

Apple fixes new iPhone zero-day bug used in Paragon spyware hacks

Researchers revealed on Thursday that two European journalists had their iPhones hacked with spyware made by Paragon. Apple says it has fixed the bug that was used to hack their phones. The Citizen Lab wrote in its report, shared with Read More …

Eight things we learned from WhatsApp vs. NSO Group spyware lawsuit

On May 6, WhatsApp scored a major victory against NSO Group when a jury ordered the infamous spyware maker to pay more than $167 million in damages to the Meta-owned company. The ruling concluded a legal battle spanning more than Read More …

Hello 0-Days, My Old Friend: A 2024 Zero-Day Exploitation Analysis

Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) tracked 75 zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in the wild in 2024, a decrease from the number we identified in 2023 (98 vulnerabilities), but still an increase from 2022 (63 vulnerabilities). GTIG researchers divided the reviewed vulnerabilities Read More …

Cocospy stalkerware apps go offline after data breach

A trio of phone surveillance apps, which was caught spying on millions of people’s phones earlier this year, has gone offline. Cocospy, Spyic, and Spyzie were three near-identical but differently branded stalkerware apps that allowed the person planting one of Read More …

Again and again, NSO Group’s customers keep getting their spyware operations caught

On Thursday, Amnesty International published a new report detailing attempted hacks against two Serbian journalists, allegedly carried out with NSO Group’s spyware Pegasus. The two journalists, who work for the Serbia-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), received suspicious text messages Read More …

Data breach at stalkerware SpyX affects close to 2 million, including thousands of Apple users

A consumer-grade spyware operation called SpyX was hit by a data breach last year, TechCrunch has learned. The breach reveals that SpyX and two other related mobile apps had records on almost 2 million people at the time of the Read More …

Amazon is still hosting spyware victims’ data weeks after breach alert

Amazon will not say if it plans to take action against three phone surveillance apps that are storing troves of individuals’ private phone data on Amazon’s cloud servers, despite TechCrunch notifying the tech giant weeks earlier that it was hosting Read More …

Italian government denies Paragon has cut spyware contract

Italy denied on Wednesday that Israeli spyware maker Paragon had cut ties with Rome following allegations that the Italian government had illegally used its technology to hack the phones of critics instead of criminals. “Paragon has never suspended the service Read More …

Spyware maker Paragon confirms US government is a customer

Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions confirmed to TechCrunch that it sells its products to the U.S. government and other unspecified allied countries. Paragon’s executive chairman John Fleming said in a statement to TechCrunch on Tuesday that “Paragon licenses its technology Read More …