Growing Government Surveillance Capabilities
A comprehensive analysis of 193 countries by Recorded Future’s Insikt Group reveals that government digital surveillance poses high or very high risk in 31 nations. State actors are exploiting telecommunications infrastructure, deploying commercial spyware, and using AI driven tools to monitor both citizens and foreign nationals with limited legal accountability. An additional 55 medium risk countries use these capabilities primarily against political opponents, journalists, and activists.
The analysis identifies five broad categories of surveillance capabilities: network interception, endpoint compromise, platform level access, public space surveillance, and data aggregation. The risk of abuse is significantly higher in countries with weak or absent independent oversight, exposing travelers to threats including theft of sensitive corporate data, intellectual property loss, and in some cases physical detention based on digitally gathered intelligence.
AI Powered Public Surveillance and Biometrics
AI powered public surveillance has become central to government monitoring in authoritarian states. Safe City projects incorporating facial recognition and license plate readers have been deployed across Africa, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, often built using hardware from Chinese technology firms. In Turkey, authorities used AI facial recognition to identify and detain demonstrators following protests in March 2025.
Biometric databases represent an intrusive layer of this architecture. Russia’s Unified Biometric System requires foreigners to submit biometric data when obtaining mobile services, drawing on information from at least 14 agencies. Myanmar’s military has merged SIM records, airport data, CCTV footage, and identity files into a unified database. Predictive policing tools such as South Korea’s Dejaview system use historical crime data with real time CCTV analysis to flag potential criminal behavior, though digital rights groups warn of bias risks against minority communities.
Commercial Spyware and Device Compromise
Governments are deploying endpoint tools that directly compromise individual devices. From 2024 to 2026, Insikt Group found evidence that at least 16 countries deployed Predator or Candiru spyware against journalists and civil society members. Amnesty International confirmed in February 2026 that Predator targeted an Angolan journalist. Custom state built malware such as GhostX, a Windows remote access trojan enabling screen monitoring and keystroke logging, has been linked to Chinese firm Knownsec. Belarus’s KGB was associated with ResidentBat, active since 2021, used to extract call logs and stored files from detained activists. Digital forensics tools are also being misused, as seen in Kazakhstan and Serbia, demonstrating how legitimate extraction systems become instruments of repression without proper oversight.
Source: Cyber Security News
