A proliferation of digital spying tools in recent years has helped generate a surge in sophisticated espionage operations, once mostly the purview of major powers like the United States and Russia. Now, small countries, corporations and even simply wealthy people looking to settle scores can all hire private firms to conduct intelligence operations.

A New York Times investigation detailed this new era of digital warfare and the multibillion-dollar industry behind it. Two firms — NSO, an Israeli company, and DarkMatter, based in the United Arab Emirates — have hired former government hackers to help their government clients not only hack criminal elements like terrorist groups and drug cartels but in some cases to also act on darker impulses, targeting activists and journalists.

[Hackers for hire: How former American and Israeli government operatives conduct espionage on behalf of authoritarian governments]

Fighting Crime

Governments rely on surveillance as part of legitimate law enforcement investigations. NSO, selling technology created by graduates of Intelligence Unit 8200 — Israel’s equivalent of the National Security Agency — says it “helps government agencies prevent and investigate terrorism and crime to save thousands of lives around the globe.” Mexican officials have credited NSO technology as pivotal in helping to track and capture El Chapo, the drug lord convicted in New York last month. DarkMatter helps with internal security in the United Arab Emirates, former employees said, thwarting terrorism and helping the police solve crimes.