Google says hackers targeted Apple and Android phones using Italian spyware

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RCS Lab, however, said that its products and services comply with European rules and help law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes. The company claimed that their personnel are not exposed, and they do not participate in any activities conducted by the relevant customers and condemns any abuse of its products.

RCS Lab on its website describes itself as a maker of "lawful interception" technologies and services including voice, data collection and tracking systems. As per its website, it handles 10,000 intercepted targets daily in Europe alone.

European and American regulators have been working on potential new rules over the sale and import of spyware.

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"These vendors are enabling the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and arming governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house," Google said.

Google researchers also discovered that RCS Lab had previously collaborated with the controversial, defunct Italian spy firm Hacking Team, which had created surveillance software for foreign governments.

The Hacking Team became a victim of a major hack in 2015 that led to a disclosure of numerous internal documents, and it went bust ever since.

Billy Leonard, a senior researcher at Google said that in some cases the hackers worked with the target's internet service provider, which indicates that they had ties with the government.

The global industry of spyware for governments has been growing in recent years. More and more companies have been accused of aiding governments that in some cases use such tools to crack down on human rights and civil rights.

A global outrage against the industry was seen when Israeli surveillance firm NSO's Pegasus spyware was found to be used by multiple governments to spy on journalists, activists and dissidents.

However, the spyware of RCS Lab may not be as stealthy as Pegasus, but it can still read messages and view passwords, according to Bill Marczak, a security researcher with digital watchdog Citizen Lab.