Shalev Hulio CEO NSO Group (LinkedIn)
Israel’s controversial cyber security firm NSO Group has made deals with the American government. According to a report in the New York Times, a deal was reached in November 2021 in which NSO Group provided the U.S. government access to a geolocation tool that can covertly track mobile phones around the world without the phone user’s knowledge or consent. The Times describes this as one of the company’s most powerful weapons.
This arrangement was reached just days after the administration of President Joe Biden publicly chastised NSO Group for its alleged activities in aiding dictatorships with the surveillance of political critics and journalists by hacking their mobile phones.
The Times reported that the deal was made with an American firm called “Cleopatra Holdings.” But a small New Jersey-based government contractor called Riva Networks was the intermediary used by the FBI when it acquired NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus spyware when Donald Trump was still in office.
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The spyware was also used by none other than the ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS.
The New York Times said that the White House denied any knowledge of the matter when asked about it.
Israel Cybersecurity firm NSO Group develops ways to break through encryptions and security systems. Last July, it was revealed that NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware software aids in the violation of people’s human rights around the world and that the company has known all about this. Specifically, they were charged with helping governments hack the telephones of journalists.
NSO Group was eventually blacklisted by the U.S. government in November 2021. And it was reported that NSO Group Pegasus spyware was used to track American embassy employees in East Africa. Specifically, 11 U.S. Embassy employees working in Uganda had their iPhones hacked by the program.
In 2022, the U.S. government scuttled plans by the American firm L3Harris to acquire NSO Group’s technology.
