Hack-for-hire spyware campaign targets journalists in Middle East, North Africa

Reports from Access Now, Lookout and SMEX describe a hack-for-hire operation linked to the Bitter APT that has targeted journalists and activists across the Middle East and North Africa since at least 2022, using spearphishing via fake social accounts and messaging to deliver Android ProSpy spyware; investigators found shared infrastructure across incidents and warned of ongoing surveillance threats to civil society.