US President Joe Biden has issued a decree prohibiting all US government departments and agencies from using commercial malicious software, the White House announced Monday.

The US presidency said in a statement that this decree bans software that poses "significant risks" to the security of the United States, noting that several foreign governments use this software to "facilitate repression and violations of human rights."

Spyware is sophisticated monitoring tools that allow remote access to electronic devices, especially smartphones, without the knowledge of their users.

This software allows access to the activities and content of these devices, and to interfere in their operation.
The presidency indicated that “the spread of private spyware poses a specific and growing danger” to the United States, especially in terms of “the security of American employees and their families.”

A senior White House official said that the US administration has so far counted 50 stable employees in ten countries who have either been exposed or could have been targeted by this malicious spyware.

The White House indicated that "an increasing number of foreign governments around the world have used this technology for the purposes of repression," "intimidation," and surveillance of "political opponents" and "activists and journalists."

The presidential decree falls within the framework of the second edition of the "Summit for Democracy", a largely virtual event organized by the United States that opens on Tuesday and lasts for three days.

The commercial spyware file had emerged on the scene, especially after information was revealed about the Pegasus program, which was developed by the Israeli company "NSO Group".

In July 2021, an investigative investigation conducted by several media outlets revealed the existence of a list of names of more than 50,000 individuals suspected of being monitored via Pegasus.

This information sparked a series of scandals and sometimes prosecutions in several countries, especially the European Parliament's establishment of a special commission of inquiry.

In the US, the FBI revealed to the Guardian that it had obtained a "limited license" to "test" Pegasus.

The US Federal Police confirmed that it did not use this tool in investigations, and that it wanted before anything else to understand how this software works.