Predators for Hire: A Global Overview of Commercial Surveillance Vendors

This Sekoia report reviews the evolution and operational practices of commercial surveillance vendors (CSVs) from 2010–2025, describing major spyware products (e.g., Pegasus, Predator, Graphite, Candiru), their business models and intermediaries, and how CSVs and APTs (including APT29) have used sophisticated exploit chains—notably zero-day and zero-click vectors—to conduct targeted espionage; it also covers infection chains, C2 infrastructure, detection approaches, and mitigation recommendations while noting the persistence of abuse despite sanctions and rebranding.