NSO on US blacklist: Israeli software designer Pegasus "appalled"

Washington said on Wednesday it had added NSO Group, the Israeli company that makes Pegasus spy software, to its list of banned companies.

AFP - JOEL SAGET

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

NSO Group has been placed on its blacklist of companies threatening the national security of the United States.

The Pegasus software, sold to foreign governments with the approval of the Israeli Defense Force, allows you to retrieve messages, photos, contacts, and remotely activate the microphones of a smartphone. 

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With our correspondent in Jerusalem,

The Israeli group NSO pleads good faith and says it is " 

" by the American decision.

Its mission now is to do everything to get out of this blacklist, in which Washington has just classified it, alongside companies threatening its national security. 

In Tel Aviv, NSO leaders say they “

respect

 ”.

According to them, their Pegasus software, sold to foreign governments with the approval of the Israeli Defense Ministry, has been hijacked from its original function. 

And yet, Pegasus' purpose is clear.

When this software attacks a smartphone, a smart phone, it retrieves the messages, photos, and contacts stored there.

And it even allows you to remotely activate the microphones of the device. 

But when it comes to Pegasus, not everyone is in the same boat.

In its contracts, the Israeli company forbids spying on the numbers of its American and British allies.

In order to defuse the

, victim of this software, Israeli officials have reportedly proposed in Paris to consider French phones "untouchable" in the future. 

► To read also: Pegasus: "NSO Group is only one of the companies involved in this business" [Interview]

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• Israel

• United States

• Pegasus