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posted by janrinok on Tuesday July 20 2021, @12:36AM   Printer-friendly
from the NSO:-No-Such-Operation dept.

Israeli Spyware Maker Is in Spotlight Amid Reports of Wide Abuses

Data leaked to a consortium of news organizations suggests that several countries use Pegasus, a powerful cyberespionage tool, to spy on rights activists, dissidents and journalists.

A major Israeli cyber-surveillance company, NSO Group, came under heightened scrutiny Sunday after an international alliance of news outlets reported that governments used its software to target journalists, dissidents and opposition politicians.

The Israeli government also faced renewed international pressure for allowing the company to do business with authoritarian regimes that use the spyware for purposes that go far afield of the company's stated aim: targeting terrorists and criminals.

[...] The allegations may escalate concerns that the Israeli government has abetted government abuses by granting NSO an export license to sell software to countries that use it to suppress dissent.

The accounts, published by The Washington Post and an alliance of 16 other international news outlets, follow recent reporting by The [New York] Times that Israel permitted NSO to do business with Saudi Arabia, and encouraged it to keep doing so even after the Saudi government was implicated in the 2018 assassination of a Saudi journalist and dissident, Jamal Khashoggi.

Pegasus: The new global weapon for silencing journalists

Also at Business Insider, The Hill, The Verge, and Al Jazeera.

Related: Israeli Firm NSO Linked to WhatsApp Hack, Faces Lawsuit Backed by Amnesty International
Saudi Crown Prince's WhatsApp Account Reportedly Used to Hack Jeff Bezos
The Great iPwn -- Journalists Hacked with Suspected NSO Group iMessage 'Zero-Click' Exploit


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 20 2021, @12:53AM (6 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @12:53AM (#1158118) Journal

    "Just because we make the tools criminals need, doesn't make us criminal. Nope, it doesn't even make us complicit in the criminal's crimes! If we don't provide the criminals with their tools, somebody else will!"

    And, it's not even that simple, really. To make things worse, they will only sell to criminals. If an honest researcher wants to buy their products and services? "Nope, you can't have this stuff! Only bona fide human rights violators need apply!"

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:19AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:19AM (#1158145)

    "Just because we make the tools guns criminals need, doesn't make us criminal. Nope, it doesn't even make us complicit in the criminal's crimes! If we don't provide the criminals with their tools guns, somebody else will!"

    FTFY.
    Now, let me watch you rushing to explain how gun makers are different.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @11:00AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @11:00AM (#1158216) Journal
      For starters, the vast majority of the gun makers' customers are law abiding and peaceful. Runaway is claiming that isn't so for this company.
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:22PM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:22PM (#1158280) Journal

      Ahhhhh, but guns have thousands of legitimate uses, none of which involves killing people. Informal anecdotal evidence says that Suzy Q. Homemaker bought a lot of guns in the last 2 years.

      Lockpicks, on the other hand, are most commonly used by criminals, or locksmiths. I just don't see lockpicks being picked up in Walmart, Dick's Sporting goods, or Home Depot by Suzy Q. Homemaker.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:40PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:40PM (#1158335)

        https://covertinstruments.com/ [covertinstruments.com]

        Lockpicking tools help you get good.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:32PM (1 child)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:32PM (#1158366) Journal

          FWIW, I don't like those all-in-one kits that all fit into the same handle. I want a pack of individual picks easily separated, same as I want my allen wrenches, Torx wrenches, etc.

          Among the more amusing reactions of managers and supervisors, is when you're asked to "cut a lock" somewhere, but you just whip out a set of picks. Eyes bug out, and the dumber ones ask, "Are those legal?"

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @04:52AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @04:52AM (#1158643)

            when you're asked to "cut a lock"

            Do you donate it to Wigs For Kids [wigsforkids.org] or Locks of Love? [locksoflove.org]