US President Trump yesterday issued an Executive Order declaring a national emergency with respect to the threat foreign adversaries pose to US technology infrastructure, and banning the use of products and services produced by companies effectively under the control of such adversaries. The Secretary of Commerce will take the lead in determining where such threats to national security lie. The language is properly general, but the adversary of concern is obviously China, and the company most likely to be affected is Huawei. Huawei knows this, and has responded with a mixture of honey and vinegar: it's innocent, the Guardian reports the company saying, and it will sign agreements to convince skeptical governments that its products represent no threat.

Huawei's case isn't helped by reports from Reuters and Volkskrant that the Netherlands' General Intelligence and Security Service is investigating what it believes may be an espionage backdoor the company insinuated into Dutch commercial telecommunications networks.

The Telegraph reports that NSO Group's ownership says it will investigate how Pegasus became the payload in a WhatsApp exploit, and promises transparency and more due diligence with respect to its customers.

Concerns about US exports' potential contribution to spyware proliferation motivate legislation moving through the US House of Representatives. The proposed law would, according to Reuters, require the State Department to report on how it was overseeing and approving exports of cybersecurity goods and  services. Lawmakers cite Project Raven, formerly provided to the UAE, as an example of an approved export that might raise concerns.