ICE says it bought Paragon's spyware to use in drug trafficking cases | TechCrunch

This page reports that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has purchased and used spyware developed by Paragon Solutions for drug trafficking investigations. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons informed lawmakers that the Homeland Security Investigations unit was approved to deploy "cutting-edge technological tools" to counter terrorist organizations exploiting encrypted communications. Spyware enables law enforcement to access data directly from devices, particularly when encrypted data is inaccessible. However, critics and human rights defenders have raised concerns about the growing misuse of commercial spyware against journalists, politicians, and civil society members globally.