JAKARTA - Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Saturday, November 6, distanced the government from NSO Group, a company blacklisted this week by the United States for alleged abuse of spyware hacking its phones.
An investigation by 17 media organizations published in July said NSO's Pegasus software had targeted the phones of journalists, rights activists, and government officials in several countries.
The company ships its products overseas under license from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which has launched its own investigation into the company's practices after allegations of misuse of the software surfaced.
No results have been announced and Israel has so far not indicated that it is considering limiting the scope of NSO exports.
"NSO is a private company, it is not a government project and therefore even though it was appointed, it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government", Lapid told a news conference in Jerusalem.
"I don't think there is another country in the world that has such strict rules under cyber warfare and that enforces those rules more than Israel and we will continue to do so", Lapid added.
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08 November 2021, 06:18
His comments were the first publicly made by a senior Israeli minister since the US Commerce Department announced the blacklist on Wednesday, November 3.
In the past, the NSO Group has been accused of selling hacking tools to authoritarian regimes. NSO says it only sells its products to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They claim to have taken the necessary steps to curb abuse.
The inclusion of NSOs on the US list for engaging in activities contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests means that exports to them from US partners are now severely restricted.
NSO said it was "disappointed" by the US decision and had terminated contracts with government agencies that abused the products it promoted as legitimate tools to help authorities fight crime and fight terrorism.
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