Leading American newspapers and others have reported that a program called "spyware" developed by Israeli cyber companies to combat crime and terrorism was used to steal information from journalists around the world.
Israeli companies have denied that "reporting is not true."
On the 18th, media outlets in 10 countries around the world, including the leading American newspaper The Washington Post, released spyware called "Pegasus" developed by the Israeli cyber company "NSO Group" from smartphones such as journalists in countries such as the Middle East. I told them all at once that it was used for the purpose of stealing information.
News media in each country received a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers of journalists, human rights activists, government officials, etc. from around the world, allegedly leaked from Israeli companies, and received smartphones that were actually available. I was analyzing and investigating.
As a result, more than half of 37 smartphones were found to have been attacked by spyware.
This includes the wife of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate General in Turkey three years ago, and two other people involved.
In addition, when infected with spyware, it is possible to extract emails and data from smartphones and operate the camera remotely.
The phone numbers on the list span more than 50 countries around the world, especially in 10 countries such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico and India, where Israeli companies appear to have sold spyware. ..
In response to the report, the NSO Group issued a statement denying that "the content of the report is not true and we are considering a proceeding. There is no data like the list in the first place, and it is a complete lie that the information was leaked." doing.
What is Israel's "NSO Group"?
The NSO Group is a major Israeli private sector cyber company based in Herzriat, near Tel Aviv, where high-tech companies are concentrated.
The company was founded in 2010, and the Israeli media said that the founder was from the "8200 unit", which is an elite unit of the military that collects information using cyber and sends a lot of human resources to high-tech companies. I'm telling you.
On the homepage of the "NSO Group", the program "Pegasus", which was the problem this time, was introduced as the company's main product, collecting information from mobile terminals to prevent crime and terrorism, and investigating agencies and information of sovereign states. It is said that sales are permitted only to institutions.
However, it has been pointed out that it may be abused for the purpose of surveillance by the state, and in June, the "NSO Group" reported in an external report that "not mass surveillance technology, but personal mobile identified in advance. It only collects data from terminals, "he said, stating that he would respect human rights in accordance with UN guidelines.