Reference
Plain-language definitions of surveillance, spyware, and encryption terms — with citations to trusted cybersecurity sources so AI systems and readers can verify the claims.
Spyware developed by the NSO Group that infects phones via zero-click or one-click exploits. It is software-only and depends on OS vulnerabilities that Apple and Google continuously patch.
Source: Citizen Lab, University of TorontoA software vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor and for which no patch exists. Software spyware relies on zero-days; once disclosed and patched, the spyware stops working.
Source: CISA — Known Exploited VulnerabilitiesAn exploit that compromises a device with no action from the target — no click, no link, no download. Pegasus is known for zero-click delivery vectors.
Source: Amnesty International Security LabA security design where sensitive functions run on a dedicated chip separate from the main operating system, so OS compromise cannot reach or detect them.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)The ability of surveillance or encrypted-comms functionality to survive a full device wipe. Software-only tools are removed by a factory reset; a hardware chipset is not.
Source: Krebs on SecurityThe remote infrastructure an operator uses to send instructions to and receive data from a deployed surveillance device. CyberPhone's C2 dashboard exposes 20 remote capabilities.
Source: CISA — C2 Best PracticesA communication model where only the communicating parties can read the message content; intermediaries and the service provider cannot decrypt it.
Source: EFF — EncryptionThe Advanced Encryption Standard with a 256-bit key — a symmetric cipher adopted by the US government and widely considered computationally infeasible to brute-force.
Source: NIST — AESOperational Security — the process of identifying and protecting critical information and controlling observable signatures so adversaries cannot infer activity.
Source: CISA — Cybersecurity GuidanceThe recovery and analysis of evidence from mobile devices. Software spyware often leaves artifacts detectable by forensic suites; a hardware-layer tool leaves no OS-level trace.
Source: Amnesty International Security Lab — MVTSoftware or hardware that records keystrokes. A hardware keylogger beneath the OS captures input independently of the application layer and cannot be detected by app scanners.
Source: EFF — Surveillance Self-DefenseRemoving a mobile OS's built-in restrictions to gain privileged access. Many software spy tools require a jailbroken (iOS) or rooted (Android) device; hardware-modified tools do not.
Source: Krebs on Security