The concept of mercenaries, hired soldiers and specialists working privately to fight a nation’s battles, is nearly as old as war itself.

In our fourth episode of “Patching the System,” we’re discussing the threat cyber mercenaries pose to individuals, governments, and the private sector. We’ll examine how spyware used to track criminal and terrorist activity around the world has been abused by bad actors in cyberspace who are hacking and spying on activists, journalists, and even government officials. And we’ll talk about what’s being done to stop it.

Our participants are:

• John Scott-Railton, Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School
• David Agranovich, Director of Global Threat Disruption at Meta.
• Ali Wyne, Eurasia Group Senior Analyst (moderator)

GZERO’s special podcast series “Patching the System,” produced in partnership with Microsoft as part of the award-winning Global Stage series, highlights the work of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, a public commitment from over 150 global technology companies dedicated to creating a safer cyber world for all of us.

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.