Milan-based RCS Lab has agencies affiliated with the authority in the customer list it publishes on the site and develops hacking tools that have been used to spy on iPhone and Android in Italy and Kazakhstan, according to an alert from Google itself.
The technological giant is demanding more control and intervention by the authorities and the political power to regulate the production and marketing of this type of technology. Google warns that “these vendors allow dangerous hacking tools to proliferate and arm governments that otherwise would not be able to develop them.”
An Apple spokesperson clarifies that all certificates and accounts associated with this spying campaign have been revoked. Representatives of the governments of Kazakhstan and Italy did not comment on this situation, while RCS Lab stated that all its products and services are marketed in accordance with European standards and help authorities investigate crimes.
A security researcher at Citizen Lab explains that the Italian company’s tool has the ability to read messages and look at users’ keywords. A Google investigation found that the company had collaborated in the past with the controversial Italian organization Hacking Team, which created spyware used by foreign governments to spy on phones and computers.
Now, RCS Lab describes on the website that it develops technologies and services for “lawful interception” of voice, data and monitoring systems, intercepts more than ten thousand targets in Europe daily, and reports Reuters.
Google’s chief investigator, Billy Leonard, explains that the company believes that the RCS spyware may have been used with the help of the victims’ internet providers, which could indicate a link to government actors.
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