The United States has banned exports to the Russian Federation and China programs used for cyber attacks

The US Department of Trade on October 20 announced the introduction of restrictions on export or resale of Russia and the PRC of software that can be used for hacker attacks. The newspaper The Washington Post also writes about this decision.

According to her, after 90 days a rule will enter into force prohibiting the sale of such software to a number of countries, including the Russian Federation and China, without a license to US industry and security.

The ban is introduced, in particular, to the PEGASUS software of the Israeli company NSO Group, which makes it possible to monitor people through their smartphones, Interfax reports . NSO Group sold Pegasus programs to states that used them to monitor dissidents and journalists .

According to the newspaper, the rule will probably spread to a small number of American companies. However, anyone who sells American software or technology for the development of these tools outside the United States should also receive permission.

The license is not required only if the software is designed to strengthen the cybersecurity system (for example, to test unauthorized access capabilities) and will be sold to representatives of non -state structures that are not related to China and Russia.

In recent months, the United States has encountered a series of powerful cyber attacks, the purpose of which was to obtain a ransom. According to the American authorities, hackers from the Russian Federation are behind a number of such attacks.