The Surveillance Threshold Has Dropped Dramatically
More than half the world's governments now have access to commercial spyware capable of breaking into phones and computers to steal sensitive data. That's the finding from the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, which is set to release its findings at the CYBERUK conference in Glasgow.
And here's the part that should give you pause: this isn't a stable number. Back in 2023, UK intelligence put the count at around 80 countries with access to these kinds of tools. That figure has now climbed to 100. The barrier to acquiring this type of surveillance technology has fallen — meaningfully — making it easier for foreign governments and hackers alike to target UK citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure.
What Commercial Spyware Actually Is — and How It Works
Commercial spyware is software developed by private companies specifically to break into devices and extract their contents. Think of tools like NSO Group's Pegasus or Paragon's Graphite. These programs typically work by exploiting security flaws in phone and computer software — vulnerabilities that most users don't even know exist — to gain full access to a device and everything stored on it.
Governments have consistently claimed they only deploy spyware against serious criminal and terrorist suspects. But security researchers and human rights defenders have long pushed back on that framing. The documented reality, they argue, is that these tools have repeatedly been turned against journalists, political opponents, and critics of the very governments using them.
Who's Being Targeted Is Changing
UK intelligence is now saying the range of people being targeted has "expanded" in recent years. It's no longer just political dissidents or suspected criminals. Bankers and wealthy businesspeople are now explicitly named as part of the growing victimology.
That shift matters. It suggests these tools aren't just instruments of political repression — they're increasingly being used for economic and competitive intelligence gathering too.
Foreign Governments Are the Biggest Cyber Threat to the UK
Richard Horne, who leads the UK National Cyber Security Centre, used a speech at the CYBERUK conference to deliver a pointed message: British companies are "failing to grasp the reality of today's world." His view is that the majority of nationally significant cyberattacks targeting the UK have originated from foreign adversarial governments — not cybercriminal gangs.
The UK is also dealing with a persistent pattern of China-linked intrusions aimed at stealing sensitive data, surveilling high-profile individuals, and laying the groundwork for potentially disruptive attacks. The context Horne and others have raised includes the possibility of interference designed to stall a Western military response ahead of an anticipated Chinese military move on Taiwan.
When Government Hacking Tools Leak, Everyone Pays
There's another layer to this that's easy to miss. Even when spyware is developed exclusively for government use, it doesn't stay contained. Earlier this year, a hacking toolkit called DarkSword — containing multiple exploits capable of breaking into modern iPhones and iPads — leaked online. Once out, it allowed anyone to set up websites capable of compromising Apple devices that hadn't been updated to the latest software version.
This isn't the first time tightly controlled government-grade hacking tools have escaped into the wild. The pattern is familiar, and the stakes are real: when these tools proliferate, the risk doesn't stay limited to the original targets. Potentially millions of ordinary people end up exposed to the same capabilities that were designed to target a handful of high-value individuals.