Security researchers say they have identified a hack-for-hire group targeting journalists, activists, and government officials across the Middle East and North Africa. The hackers used phishing attacks to access targets' iCloud backups and messaging accounts on Signal, and deployed Android spyware capable of taking over the targets' devices. This hacking campaign highlights a growing trend of government agencies outsourcing their hacking operations to private hack-for-hire companies. Some governments already rely on commercial companies that develop spyware and exploits used by police and intelligence agencies to access data on people's phones. Researchers from the digital rights organization Access Now documented three instances of attacks over 2023 through 2025 against two Egyptian journalists, and a journalist in Lebanon whose case was also documented by digital rights organization SMEX. According to Lookout, the attacks go beyond members of Egyptian and Lebanese civil society,...
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