Finland has joined a declaration that tries to eradicate the spread and misuse of spyware, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in South Korea.
Finland has joined to an international declarationwhich attempts to curb the spread and misuse of commercial spyware.
US State Department according to the release Finland and other countries committed to the declaration consider commercial spyware a threat that requires strict control both nationally and internationally.
Spyware is a malicious program that can be secretly installed on a user’s phone or computer. It collects confidential information about the user without being noticed and passes it on.
Finland has not announced the statement.
– We did not expect that the matter would arouse much interest in the media, says the team leader Pekka Marttila From the Security Policy and Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, according to him, Finland considers the matter itself important.
– The background is the widespread proliferation of spyware malware and the growing use by hostile actors, Marttila tells by phone.
According to Marttila, it is mainly a political declaration, which is not legally binding and, at least for the time being, does not cause, for example, the need for changes in legislation.
– We want to be on a common front to solve a big problem, says Marttila.
Countries prevent espionage with sanctions and export controls
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Finland’s accession to the declaration on Monday at a democracy-related meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
According to Blinken, the United States is fighting against the use of commercial spyware to monitor and harass journalists and human rights activists.
In practice, according to Blinken, the United States can resort to, among other things, sanctions, export restrictions and visa restrictions to hold states and companies accountable for the misuse of spyware.
The United States announced the first sanctions against a company that develops spyware In the beginning of March.
At the previous Summit for Democracy a year ago, the United States got ten countries to commit to not using commercial spyware to restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sweden, Norway and Denmark, among others, joined at the time.
According to Blinken, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Finland, Poland and Ireland have now joined the same commitment.
In his speech Blinken emphasized the importance of combating disinformation and told as an example that in Finland already in elementary school they teach to recognize disinformation.
The Democracy Assembly is the third in its series. It’s the president Joe Biden about the administration’s project to defend democratic values around the world.