The study found that in 2024, 20 new American outfits piled in, taking the total to 31. That is more than Israel, Italy or the UK and suggests Wall Street cash is knee-deep in surveillance technology.

Researchers surveyed 561 entities across 46 countries going back to 1992. They identified 34 new investors in the past year, pushing the global total up to 128 from 94. Europe’s single market plus Switzerland also counts 31 spyware investors, with Italy leading the bloc on 12. Israel has 26.

Among the new US names are hedge funds D.E. Shaw and Millennium Management, trading giant Jane Street, and financial-services firm Ameriprise. The Atlantic Council says all of them pumped cash into Israeli interception software outfit Cognyte, which has been linked to alleged rights abuses in Azerbaijan and Indonesia.

The spyware trade itself is still expanding. The dataset now includes four fresh vendors, seven resellers, 10 suppliers, and 55 new individuals connected to the business. New players range from Israel’s Bindecy to Italy’s SIO. The report also tags Japan, Malaysia and Panama as recent additions to the spyware map.

Japan’s inclusion is awkward, given that it signed on to international efforts like the Pall Mall Process Code of Practice that were supposed to limit spyware abuse.

Atlantic Council researcher Jen Roberts urged Washington to widen Executive Order 14105 so spyware falls under it and warned against watering down Executive Order 14093.

“US purchasing power is a significant tool in shaping and constraining the global market for spyware,” Roberts said.