Spyware find highlights depth of hacker-for-hire industry

By FRANK BAJAK
AP Technology Writer

BOSTON (AP) — Security researchers say they discovered two different types of commercial spyware on the phone of a leading exiled Egyptian dissident, documenting for the first time a hack by a little-known competitor of Israel’s notorious NSO Group. They say it’s the latest evidence that the hacker-for-hire industry has such depth and diversity that simply driving NSO Group out of business won’t halt the abuse of cyber-mercenary tools by repressive governments. Digital sleuths at the nonprofit Citizen Lab not only found NSO Group malware on the iPhone of dissident Ayman Nour, the other was from a company called Cytrox that also has Israeli ties.