New Israeli-made spyware, similar to the notorious Pegasus program, has been used against journalists and opposition politicians in many countries, a Canadian organization said on Tuesday. According to Citizen Lab, the spyware and related exploit or hacking software were created by a little-known firm called QuaDream Ltd, which was founded by a former Israeli military official and veterans of the NSO Group, the creator of Pegasus.

Citizen Lab, which studies digital abuse, said it has identified at least five people targeted by QuaDream spyware and exploits in North America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

“Victims include journalists, political opposition figures and a non-governmental organization employee,” the message said, whose identities have not been released at this time.

Spyware like Pegasus is widely used by governments and other actors to monitor dissidents, media and activists. Programs can be placed on computers and mobile phones using phishing communications and backdoors, and can also collect information from the phone and transmit it to the operator without the user’s knowledge.

In late March, the White House said Pegasus was used by governments to “facilitate repression and human rights abuses”. Citizen Lab reported that QuaDream spy software placed on a user’s phone or computer can record external sounds from a phone call and the device’s microphone, take pictures from cameras, and search the device’s files without the user’s knowledge.

The spyware can also generate its own two-factor authentication codes to provide seamless access to the device owner’s cloud accounts. According to Citizen Lab, the spyware now includes a self-destruct feature to hide its previous presence when not in use.

Citizen Lab identified servers in 10 countries that received data from victims’ devices, including Israel, Singapore, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, and Bulgaria. According to Citizen Lab, QuaDream sells its spyware and services to government customers, including Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Ghana, Indonesia, and Morocco.