U.S. Imposes Visa Restrictions on those Involved in Illegal Spyware Surveillance

The U.S. State Department announced a new policy imposing visa restrictions on individuals and companies linked to illegal use of commercial spyware to surveil civil-society actors, aiming to promote accountability for misuse; the measure covers operators, financial beneficiaries, and private-sector offensive actors (PSOAs). The report highlights recent findings that NSO Group's Pegasus targeted 35 journalists and references U.S. sanctions on vendors like NSO and Candiru, while citing GCHQ and Google TAG assessments that commercial spyware has proliferated globally (about 80 countries) and that PSOAs have weaponized numerous zero-days, raising significant privacy, security, and human-rights risks.