Israeli spyware company QuaDream expected to close down - report

Israeli cybersecurity company QuaDream reportedly summoned many of its 40 employees to a pre-termination hearing on Monday ahead of widespread layoffs, according to Globes.

The company’s hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 countries – including people and groups in North America and Europe – according to research published last week by Microsoft and the Internet watchdog Citizen Lab.

QuaDream, which can only access iPhones (unlike NSO, which can also hack Android phones), wrote in a letter to court: “The crisis in the industry began due to the public disclosure of the activities of some of the companies from 2018 onward, which resulted in the fact that in November 2011, the US Chamber of Commerce put NSO and Candiru on its blacklist. Immediately after that, at the start of 2022, the regulator in Israel decided to reduce the number of countries to which it is allowed to sell the companies’ products in the industry from 102 to only 37, which caused a severe economic crisis in the entire industry.”

What is QuaDream and what do reports claim?

QuaDream is a lower-profile competitor to the Israeli spyware company NSO Group, which has been blacklisted by the US government over allegations of abuse. The firm has developed an integrated software and hardware system that allows taking over local networks so that it can breach phones connected to it. The company has also created a software product that allows remote control of mobile phones.

Research published earlier this month by Microsoft and the Internet watchdog Citizen Lab said in its report that it had been able to identify a handful of civil society victims whose iPhones had been hacked using surveillance software developed by the QuaDream.

In its report published at the same time, Microsoft said it believed with “high confidence” that the spyware was “strongly linked to QuaDream.”

Reuters reported in 2022 that QuaDream had previously developed a no-interaction-needed hacking tool similar to the programs deployed by NSO. Such hacking tools, known as “zero-click,” are particularly prized by cybercriminals, spies and law enforcement because they can remotely compromise devices without an owner needing to open a malicious link or download a tainted attachment.

The reports come on the heels of an announced crackdown on the international spyware industry by US President Joe Biden. Last month, the White House announced an executive order intended to curb the purchase of surveillance software by US agencies if the programs are also being used by repressive governments abroad.