The threat from commercial cyber proliferation

The report states that over the past decade at least 80 countries have acquired commercial mobile spyware, providing states without deep cyber skillsets with powerful intelligence-gathering capabilities (message reading, call interception, location, remote camera/mic control). These tools can be delivered via phishing or zero-click exploits, and are likely used at scale against law enforcement, journalists, human-rights activists, political dissidents and foreign officials, with thousands of individuals targeted annually.