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NEW DELHI: The US on Wednesday blacklisted Israel’s NSO group, the maker of the Pegasus spyware, which was at the centre of a worldwide controversy over snooping allegations.
A media consortium earlier this year had found that NSO’s Pegasus was used by governments across the globe for successful or attempted phone hacks of political opponents, dissidents, business executives, human rights activists and others.
Smartphones infected with Pegasus are essentially turned into pocket spying devices, allowing the user to read the target’s messages, look through their photos, track their location and even turn on their camera without them knowing.
Besides NSO, three other companies have also been blacklisted by the US.
The US said the tools of these companies have “enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression, which is the practice of authoritarian governments targeting dissidents, journalists and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent.”
NSO has said it will seek to reverse the US decision. “NSO Group is dismayed by the decision, given that our technologies support US national security interests and policies by preventing terrorism and crime, and thus we will advocate for this decision to be reversed,” an NSO spokesperson told AFP.
The US move is bound to have reverberations in India, which saw a huge political controversy after names of several politicians, journalists, activists and businessmen appeared in the leaked list of potential Pegasus targets.
The opposition has accused the Narendra Modi government of using the spyware against its rivals and detractors.
The Supreme Court recently ordered a three-member expert panel to probe the allegations of spying by the government using the Pegasus spyware. This after the Centre refused to furnish a detailed affidavit citing national security.
The US announcement will come as a boost to the opposition parties who have been strongly demanding details spyware use by the country.
Washington has also targeted Israeli company Candiru, Singapore-based Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE, and Russian firm Positive Technologies.
These companies have been added to the so-called “entity list”, which means that exports to them from US organisations are restricted.
Stewart Baker, a cybersecurity lawyer and former general counsel at the National Security Agency, said it remains to be seen how big an impact Wednesday’s announcement will have on the NSO Group’s long-term health. He said the Commerce Department will have significant discretion in how it handles licensing requests related to the NSO Group, and could face pressure from US exporters and the Israeli government.
“We could see a situation in which the sanction has been granted and it has a great symbolic significance and some practical significance for NSO, but certainly isn’t a death penalty and may over time just be really aggravating,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
A media consortium earlier this year had found that NSO’s Pegasus was used by governments across the globe for successful or attempted phone hacks of political opponents, dissidents, business executives, human rights activists and others.
Smartphones infected with Pegasus are essentially turned into pocket spying devices, allowing the user to read the target’s messages, look through their photos, track their location and even turn on their camera without them knowing.
Besides NSO, three other companies have also been blacklisted by the US.
The US said the tools of these companies have “enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression, which is the practice of authoritarian governments targeting dissidents, journalists and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent.”
NSO has said it will seek to reverse the US decision. “NSO Group is dismayed by the decision, given that our technologies support US national security interests and policies by preventing terrorism and crime, and thus we will advocate for this decision to be reversed,” an NSO spokesperson told AFP.
The US move is bound to have reverberations in India, which saw a huge political controversy after names of several politicians, journalists, activists and businessmen appeared in the leaked list of potential Pegasus targets.
The opposition has accused the Narendra Modi government of using the spyware against its rivals and detractors.
The Supreme Court recently ordered a three-member expert panel to probe the allegations of spying by the government using the Pegasus spyware. This after the Centre refused to furnish a detailed affidavit citing national security.
The US announcement will come as a boost to the opposition parties who have been strongly demanding details spyware use by the country.
Washington has also targeted Israeli company Candiru, Singapore-based Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE, and Russian firm Positive Technologies.
These companies have been added to the so-called “entity list”, which means that exports to them from US organisations are restricted.
Stewart Baker, a cybersecurity lawyer and former general counsel at the National Security Agency, said it remains to be seen how big an impact Wednesday’s announcement will have on the NSO Group’s long-term health. He said the Commerce Department will have significant discretion in how it handles licensing requests related to the NSO Group, and could face pressure from US exporters and the Israeli government.
“We could see a situation in which the sanction has been granted and it has a great symbolic significance and some practical significance for NSO, but certainly isn’t a death penalty and may over time just be really aggravating,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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