Concept
The cyber-arms industry are the markets and associated events surrounding the sale of software exploits, zero-days, cyberweaponry, surveillance technologies, and related tools for perpetrating cyberattacks. The term may extend to both grey and black markets online and offline. For many years, the burgeoning dark web market remained niche, available only to those in-the-know or well-funded. Since at least 2005, governments including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France, and Israel have been buying exploits from defence contractors and individual hackers. This 'legitimate' market for zero-day exploits exists but is not well advertised or immediately accessible. Attempts to openly sell zero-day exploits to governments and security vendors to keep them off the black market have so far been unsuccessful. Traditional arms producers and military services companies such as BAE Systems, EADS, Leonardo, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Thales have all expanded into the cybersecurity markets. However, smaller software companies such as Blue Coat and Amesys have also become involved, often drawing attention for providing surveillance and censorship technologies to the regimes of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Suppliers of exploits to western governments include the Massachusetts firm Netragard. The trade show ISS World that runs every few months has been referred to as the 'international cyber arms bazaar' and the 'wiretappers ball' focuses on surveillance software for lawful interception. Some other cyberarms companies include Endgame, Inc., Gamma Group, NSO Group, Birmingham Cyber Arms LTD and Ability. Circles, a former surveillance business, merged with NSO Group in 2014. On 26 July 2017 Google researchers announced the discovery of new spyware they named "Lipizzan". According to Google, "Lipizzan's code contains references to a cyber arms company, Equus Technologies.". The most popular Internet forums are generally in Russian or Ukrainian and there are reports of English-only, Chinese-only, German-only, and Vietnamese-only sites, among others.