Cybersecurity is GeoPolitical: Lessons From the Fight Against Mercenary Spyware Proliferation

Beyond the zero-click exploits and constant stream of spyware scandals, a marathon struggle is unfolding between mercenary spyware developers and the tech & cybersecurity community. Yet progress is elusive. While big companies seek to defend users from the likes of Predator, Pegasus and Quadream with hardening, threat intelligence, and patching, mercenary spyware proliferation as a whole is accelerating.
Why? Because mercenary spyware's greatest successes aren't technical, they are political. Mercenary spyware companies navigate gaps in regulation while seeking to align themselves with entrenched interests. This is partly why measures targeting the political, not technical, dimensions of the spyware problem have shown some of the greatest promise for pumping the brakes on spyware proliferation.
As the cybersecurity field grows more politicized and polarized, lessons from the fight to stem mercenary spyware proliferation are increasingly applicable to a wide range of other cybersecurity challenges.
View upcoming Summits: www.sans.org/u/DuS
SANS Cyber Threat Intelligence Summit 2024
Keynote
Cybersecurity is GeoPolitical: Lessons From the Fight Against Mercenary Spyware Proliferation
Bill Marczak, Senior Researcher, Citizen Lab - The University of Toronto