Former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed in July that government agencies are using military-grade spyware to spy on people. Now, he warns people not to use ExpressVPN.
Since 2018, the U.S. government and private entities all over the world are said to have been using Pegasus spyware, which was developed by a start-up Israeli cybersecurity NSO Group to spy on people’s cellular phones.
Snowden shared in a blog post about how smartphones have become the “most dangerous item” we people own and showed three hidden microphones implanted in his smartphone. He explained that smartphones exist in perpetual insecurity that is open to infection by anyone who is willing to pay this Insecurity Industry, Tech Startups reported.
Now, Snowden is telling people to stop using the service of ExpressVPN. He said in a tweet: “If you’re an ExpressVPN customer, you shouldn’t be.”
His warning followed after the discovery that Daniel Gericke, CIO of ExpressVPN is one of the three past U.S. intelligence operatives who agreed at present to not fight charges they unlawfully helped UAE hack people.
Express VPN did not argue Snowden’s claims. Instead, it release a statement, saying: “We’ve known the key facts relating to Daniel’s employment history since before we hired him, as he disclosed them proactively and transparently with us from the start.”
“In fact, it was his history and expertise that made him an invaluable hire for our mission to protect users’ privacy and security,” the company said pertaining to one Gericke facing charges for the UAE spy unit.
It was also uncovered in court records Tuesday that Gericke worked on the UAE’s hacking and spying operation. The Department of Justice released court records that the former intelligence operative also worked on Project Raven which is a surveillance operation for the United Arab Emirates government which involved hacking of Americans, activists, and heads of the country.
The company ExpressVPN was established in 2009 and it is one of the world’s biggest providers of VPN services which allows millions of people to protect their privacy and security online.
