UK government says 100 countries have spyware that can hack people’s phones

UK intelligence reports that 100 countries now possess commercial spyware capable of compromising phones and computers, up from 80 in 2023, significantly expanding the threat landscape for enterprises and critical infrastructure. The proliferation of these tools—combined with leaked exploit kits becoming publicly available—means organizations face mounting risks from both state-sponsored and criminal actors targeting executives, financial data, and sensitive communications. IT leaders must recognize that traditional security postures are insufficient against government-grade threats, requiring urgent investment in endpoint protection, zero-trust architectures, and incident response capabilities tailored to advanced persistent threats.