Google accuses a Barcelona company of developing spy tools used by governments around the world to monitor their victims. According to the latest investigation by the American technology giant, it is Varistone, a startup specializing in spy technology that was founded in the Catalan capital in 2018 by Ralph Wegener and Ramanan Jayaraman. Soon after, it acquired Truel IT, a research firm that provides “unique capabilities” for zero-day attacks, the type of cyberattack discovered by Google.
The report explains that a computer virus developed by Variston was used in Indonesia to exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities in the operating system used by Apple products, especially iPhones. Google has discovered a group of hackers sending SMS messages containing a malicious link that has infected the mobile phones of victims.
Google did not identify Variston's government client in the cyberattack discovered in Indonesia. However, the report notes that Variston will collaborate with “various organizations to develop and distribute spyware.”
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