Washington, DC —Congressman Jim Himes, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, applauded the announcement today that the Administration would, for the first time, institute sanctions against two individuals and five entities for assisting in the creation and distribution of commercial spyware technology targeted against Americans.
“I am glad to see the Administration hold Intellexa Consortium responsible for their role in the development and proliferation of commercial spyware used to target Americans,” said Congressman Himes. “Commercial spyware poses a unique security risk and one that we must act quickly to address. I have long advocated for stricter measures to make clear that we will not tolerate this invasion of privacy by foreign actors or entities. These economic sanctions are a strong step towards discouraging the proliferation of such technology.”
Congressman Himes previously led a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo urging them to take critical steps to address the growing national security threat to U.S. citizens and residents posed by foreign commercial spyware.
He also introduced the Combatting Foreign Surveillance Spyware Sanctions Act and led the charge on a commercial spyware provision in the FY23 Intelligence Authorization Act to encourage the President to exert authority on this issue.
For further information contact Nora Kohli at Nora.kohli@mail.house.gov.