The first session of the Virtual Routes Colloquium Fall/Winter series hosts Jen Roberts from Cyber Statecraft Initiative. Jen will present her research on “Mythical Beasts and Where to Find Them: Diving into the Depths of the Global Spyware Market”. Julian-Ferdinand Vögele (Recorded Future) will act as discussant.

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Abstract:

Mythical Beasts: Diving into the Depths of the Global Spyware Market dives into the growing and evolving global market for spyware and the challenges policymakers face to curb the proliferation and misuse stemming from it. The report builds on the first publication of its kind on this topic, Mythical Beasts and Where to Find Them: Mapping the Global Spyware Market and Its Threats to National Security and Human Rights, which outlined spyware vendors and their complex networks of holding companies, investors, suppliers, and partners.  In total, this new edition of the Mythical Beasts project surveys 562 entities across 46 countries from 1992-2024. It discusses new trends in the global spyware market, including the role of investment and the role of resellers and brokers within this ecosystem. We observed: The United States is now the largest investor in this sample of the spyware market, overtaking Israel — despite US-led efforts to combat spyware proliferation; US-based investments in spyware vendors increased by 20 new entities in 2024 alone, revealing a stark enforcement and policy gap; resellers and brokers are playing a far more critical role in the spyware market than previously understood, obscuring relationships between vendors and end users; new entities have been identified in Japan, Malaysia, and Panama, demonstrating an increasingly globalized market.