JAKARTA - The Israeli government, on Wednesday, July 28, visited the NSO Group. The company is now the subject of gossip because their Pegasus spyware is suspected to have been secretly installed on the mobile devices of journalists and activists.
According to Calcalist.co.il. the visit was led by Officials from the Israeli Ministry of Defense. During these scheduled visits, they did not audit or check computer systems and documents.
“We confirm that representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Defense visited our office. We welcome their inspection. The company works in full transparency with the Israeli authorities. We are confident that these inspections will prove the facts as repeatedly stated by the company against the false accusations made against us in the recent media attacks", a source at NSO Group said in a statement.
The visit is a sign that the latest accusations against the NSO Group have caused pressure on Israel. Calls are growing from around the world for the country to take a closer look at the sale of Pegasus by the NSO Group, a powerful type of spyware that can silently infect mobile devices.
France has pressured Israel to investigate. Also, four US Democratic lawmakers called for the "hired hackers" industry to be brought under control and sanctions applied for companies selling spyware to authoritarian countries.
A recent investigation revealed by Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories, a non-profit group based in France, alleged that Pegasus was sold to the government which then used it to spy on dissidents, journalists, and activists.
Instead, the NSO Group defends itself that the software is only used for lawful and authorized law enforcement activities, which include fighting crime and terrorism.
Controversial Leaks
Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories' findings are based on leaked lists of 50.000 phone numbers. The groups say the list represents the phone numbers of people Pegasus may have targeted. The source of the list has not been revealed.
Forensic investigators with Amnesty International's Security Lab said 37 devices linked to the numbers on the list showed signs of being targeted or infected with Pegasus.
The attacks appear to have taken place using network injection techniques or possible zero-day vulnerabilities in apps like iMessage, Photos, and Apple Music, according to the researchers. Attacks using iMessage appear to be called zero-click attacks, meaning no user interaction is required to infect a device (see: Spyware Exposé Highlights Alleged Apple Zero-Day Flaw).
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Despite allegations that NSO Group's software was misused by its clients, what escalated the situation this time around was the presence of a prominent leader's phone number on the list.
The figures include those for presidents, such as Emmanuel Macron of France, Barham Salih of Iraq, and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. There are also three current prime ministers on the list: Imran Khan of Pakistan, Mostafa Madbouly of Egypt, and Saad-Eddine El Othmani of Morocco. Seven former prime ministers are on the list and one king, Mohammed VI of Morocco.
NSO Group said the list was not from a company and was not a targeting list. The company states that it complies with Israeli export regulations, which control how cyber weapons are sold. The company has said it has about 45 government customers each targeting around 100 people a year.
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