[2][3] Cyber espionage can be used to target various actors- individuals, competitors, rivals, groups, governments, and others- in order to obtain personal, economic, political or military advantages.
[2] Cyber spying started as far back as 1996, when widespread deployment of Internet connectivity to government and corporate systems gained momentum.
[4][5][6] Cyber spying typically involves the use of such access to secrets and classified information or control of individual computers or whole networks for a strategic advantage and for psychological, political and physical subversion activities and sabotage.
[9] Major manufacturers of Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) cyber collection technology include Gamma Group from the UK[10] and Hacking Team from Italy.
[11] Bespoke cyber-collection tool companies, many offering COTS packages of zero-day exploits, include Endgame, Inc. and Netragard of the United States and Vupen from France.