Surveillance firm is embroiled in legal action after allegations that its tools have been used to target dissidents.
Israeli spyware firm NSO Group has said its Chief Executive Shalev Hulio is stepping down with immediate effect, with Chief Operating Officer Yaron Shohat appointed to oversee a reorganisation of the company before a successor is named.
A source in the company confirmed on Sunday that about 100 employees will be let go as part of the firm’s reorganisation, and that Shohat will lead the company until the board appoints a new CEO.
The surveillance firm, which makes Pegasus software, has been contending with legal action after allegations that its tools were used by governments and other agencies to hack the mobile phones of dissidents, human rights activists and journalists.
NSO has said its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, paedophiles and hardened criminals and is sold to “vetted and legitimate” government clients, although it keeps its client list confidential.
“The company’s products remain in high demand with governments and law enforcement agencies because of its cutting-edge technology and proven ability to assist these customers in fighting crime and terror,” Shohat said in a statement.
“NSO will ensure that the company’s groundbreaking technologies are used for rightful and worthy purposes,” he added.
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The US has added NSO Group, the Israeli spyware giant behind the infamous Pegasus software used to spy on journalists and human rights activists, to a trade blacklist, along with three firms charged with similar acts.
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Lowkey is joined by Whitney Webb to examine the IDF’s military intelligence Unit 8200, which gave birth to the NSO group responsible for Pegasus Spyware, and how Israel’s national security state is merging with that of the United States to target free speech and dissent.
Spyware supposedly under tight export control is now found to be a surveillance weapon of choice to track journalists and dissidents in autocratic nations. This is a chilling discovery that highlights how Technocrats have total control over surveillance.
The Pegasus Project, a collaborative investigation led by journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories and human rights group Amnesty International, reveals dozens of additional victims. It was this project that led to the revelation that Ismailova’s phone had been compromised. And though NSO Group is near the top of the pyramid, it’s not alone. The company is just one actor in an ecosystem of private “cyber intelligence” firms, many based in tech-savvy, entrepreneurial, and militarized Israel.
A number of international papers report today on the Israeli hacking company NSO which sells snooping software to various regimes. The software is then used to hijack the phones of regime enemies, political competition or obnoxious journalists. All of that was already well known but the story has new legs as several hundreds of people who were spied on can now be named.
Activists, journalists and politicians around the world have been spied on using cellphone malware developed by a private Israeli firm, it emerged Sunday, igniting fears of widespread privacy and rights abuses.
As internet penetration and smartphone usage increases across Africa, digital spaces have become increasingly important for organising political uprisings and opposition movements. In response, several of the continent’s regimes have shut down the internet or blocked social media apps. To sidestep the economic costs and global criticism that these online shutdowns incur, governments have turned to digital surveillance technology as a shrewder way to crush all opposition.
A Senate investigation reveals that a consortium of Israeli hacking and surveillance firms coordinated and facilitated meetings between Trump campaign operatives and Russia during the 2016 campaign, but they don’t really want to talk about it.
Infamous Israeli malware developer NSO Group is currently being sued by Facebook for using WhatsApp as its preferred attack vector. Malicious links and malware payloads are sent to targets, allowing government agencies -- including those in countries with horrendous human rights records -- to intercept communications and otherwise exploit compromised phones.
The FBI is investigating the role of Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group Technologies in possible hacks on American residents and companies as well as suspected intelligence gathering on governments, according to four people familiar with the inquiry, Reuters reports.
Mobile phones belonging to at least two dozen Pakistani officials were compromised earlier this year by the Israeli spyware company NSO Group, according to a report by the Guardian. It is believed that senior defence and intelligence officials were among those targeted by suspected hackers exploiting vulnerabilities on the popular messaging application WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook.
A look at the spyware that is hacking journalists around the world.
