US to Impose Visa Restrictions on Abusers of Commercial Spyware

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to Baghdad International Airport from the International Zone via helicopter after meeting Iraq's Prime Minister in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 5, 2023. Jonathan Ernst/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced a new policy allowing the government to impose visa restrictions on individuals believed to have been involved in misusing commercial spyware, regardless of where it occurs.

Commercial spyware is software installed on devices, such as cell phones, to monitor activity and capture potentially sensitive data. Spyware can also turn on the camera and microphone on a device without the owner’s knowledge, effectively turning the device into a hidden recorder. Depending on who is doing the spying, this can be used for malicious purposes very quickly.

According to Mr. Blinken’s Feb. 5 statement, the new policy escalates the federal government’s efforts to prevent the abuse of spyware software. It’s part of a broader effort to shape the behavior of foreign governments and individual companies involved in malicious digital espionage activities.

The legislation will target individuals believed to have been involved in using commercial spyware to target, surveil, harass, suppress, or intimidate individuals, including journalists, activists, and other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work. The visa restrictions would prevent those who have profited from or facilitated the misuse of commercial spyware from traveling to the United States.

Mr. Blinken said the misuse of commercial spyware presents a security and counterintelligence threat to U.S. personnel. It also threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, which can facilitate repression, restrict the free flow of information, and enable human rights abuses.

“Such targeting has been linked to arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in the most egregious of cases,” he said.

“The United States stands on the side of human rights and fundamental freedoms and will continue to promote accountability for individuals involved in commercial spyware misuse,” he added.

According to the press release, the new policy operates under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Ultimately, the State Department will decide if anyone has violated this policy on a case-by-case basis.

It hasn’t been made clear how it will apply to people who have passports from countries that don’t require a visa to enter the United States, such as people with European Union and Israeli passports.

There has also been no indication if the State Department has already drafted a list of people who will be among the first to feel the bite of the new visa restrictions. It’s also unclear if allowances will be made for individuals who might hold high-ranking political office or other industry leaders.

The Biden administration has been escalating efforts to track and prevent foreign governments and U.S. agencies from using commercial spyware.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning government agencies from using commercial spyware that could pose national security risks.

Several spyware vendors, such as the NSO Group, Candiru, Intellexa, and Cytrox, have also been added to trade blacklists in recent years.

NSO Group CEO Yaron Shohat has been traveling to the United States for the last year, lobbying for the company’s removal from the list. Whether he will continue to be allowed into the country after the new policy is enacted remains to be seen.