An article on commercial spyware in Voice of America cited Citizen Lab research into ‘lawful intercept’ spyware such as FinSpy.

Citizen Lab Researcher Bill Marczak was also quoted, calling these kinds of software “a new trend in repression.”

Citizen Lab research into Hacking Team also found that the company provided offensive “legal intercept” surveillance software to 21 countries. See the report here.

“Among the countries Citizen Lab said Hacking Team software was found are several with questionable human rights records such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Sudan. The report also alleges that Hacking Team software was used to spy on Ethiopian journalists based in the Washington area.”

Read the full Voice of America piece here.