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Microsoft and the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy collaborated to investigate a secretive technology company that sold hacking tools to government agencies, according to CBC News and the Guardian.

The malware sold by Tel Aviv-based Candiru – apparently designed to infiltrate popular products like Microsoft Windows and Google’s Chrome web browser – was used against a range of targets including Saudi dissidents and a left-leaning Indonesian media outlet, CBC News reported, citing Citizen’s Lab report .

Among the company's spyware methods was the use of fake websites purporting to represent NGOs, activist groups and news organizations – such as Black Lives Matter, Amnesty International and CNN, the Guardian reported, citing Citizen’s Lab report.

Microsoft, which discovered vulnerabilities in its software,  that it had published an update blocking the spyware tools.