The sheer number of companies operating in this space reflects how high demand for spyware remains among law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with many providers deliberately staying out of the public spotlight. Italian spyware makers have largely filled the void left by Hacking Team, one of the world's first commercial spyware companies, which collapsed after being hacked and later rebranded. The Morpheus malware code itself contained Italian phrases and references to Gomorra — the famous book and TV series about the Neapolitan mob — a detail researchers described as seemingly becoming a tradition among Italian spyware developers. For anyone involved in political activism, journalism, or civil society work in Italy, the message from this latest discovery is clear: the surveillance threat is real, active, and closer to home than many realize.