Occupied Jerusalem

- The Israeli cyber-attack company NSO, the producer of the Pegasus spyware, has prepared;

A plan to organize and restructure it, in order to prevent the collapse of the company, which is facing lawsuits by international companies and many countries due to the use of the program to spy and hack cell phones, after the company was included by the US authorities on the blacklist.

The Israeli company is facing cumulative debts and fears of a financial collapse that is expected to continue and the inability to repay the accumulated debts amounting to 500 million dollars, in light of the restrictions imposed by Washington, as well as in light of the restrictions issued by the Israeli Ministry of Security on Israeli companies involved in the production of defense internet and spyware, Under it, it is prohibited to export spyware and cyber-attack to dozens of countries.

In the context of implementing the company's organizational restructuring plan, which was revealed by the Israeli newspaper "Klacist", which deals with economic affairs, Shalev Julio - who is the general manager of "NSO" and one of its founders - resigned from his position, to take responsibility for the search for buyers for the company. and will be responsible for the company's mergers and acquisitions or dissolution allowing the company to embark on a new path.

Yaron Shohat will take over the position as CEO instead of Julio, and he will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive restructuring plan that includes organizational changes in the company, in addition to laying off employees, knowing that it was decided in the first phase to lay off 100 employees of the company's 750 employees.

And 650 employees will remain in NSO, knowing that the company is currently owned by Triangle, which is owned by a foreign fund called (NOAL SCSP), owned by the US fund (BRG), and owns 70.33% of the shares. Tre Angel”, the management group headed by Julio owns the remaining 29.67% of the shares.


Crises and challenges

Meir Urbach, editor of the hi-tech and technology supplement in the Clakist newspaper, says, "Pegasus has been facing a crisis since November of last year due to its blacklisting by the US Department of Commerce, a move that prevented the company from concluding any new deals or any commercial activity. new".

Orbach explained to Al Jazeera Net that the company is currently facing lawsuits on charges of hacking and espionage, some of which are in the Tel Aviv District Court by Facebook, due to the claim that the “WhatsApp” application was hacked, through the “Pegasus” program, where the two companies “Google” (Google) also joined the lawsuit. ) and Microsoft, as well as a range of investigations around the world into the illegal use of Pegasus software against journalists and regime opponents.

Orbach believes that what deepened the company's crisis and worsened its business conditions, is the series of restrictions announced by the Israeli Ministry of Security on Israeli cyber exports, due to pressures exerted by the United States, as these restrictions make it difficult for offensive cyber companies - which do not obtain licenses to sell their software - Bypassing existing contracts and restricting any future deals, which means restricting Pegasus and preventing it from concluding new deals contracts.

Orbach does not rule out that there will be negative repercussions on the “NSO” company due to the Israeli restrictions and Washington’s measures to include it in the blacklist, noting that the Israeli Ministry of Security imposed restrictions on Israeli cyber companies requiring a freeze on the export of their programs to dozens of countries, as some companies announced Bankruptcy, including companies that sold shares.

NSO faces break-up and defaults on $500 million debt (Getty Images)

struggle and change

In an attempt to save the company and prevent it from collapsing, and as part of the company's organizational restructuring plan, the procedures for dismantling the Israeli "NSO" group, which separated from 3 companies it had previously acquired, were recently launched.

The NSO Group faces an increased risk of defaulting on about $500 million in debt, due to lawsuits being brought against it and new export restrictions from America on its products.

Despite the conflict between the companies from the "NSO Group", and their inability to pay the debts, the custodian of the three companies that develop "cyber" and "defensive Internet" programs - Goutilv, Convexom and Way Out has found a buyer for about $30 million.

Scheduling and investing

Asaf Golan, a journalist specializing in technology and high-tech affairs, explained that the changes taking place in the company aim to install it in the global market as the largest producer and developer of spyware, as well as to schedule debts and prevent the company's collapse.

It is believed that within the restructuring, an attempt is made to attract investors;

Foreigners in particular, as it is not excluded in the future that businessmen from America will acquire the shares of the company, which is facing a financial and commercial crisis due to policies and decisions issued by Washington.


structuring and adapting

In his speech, Golan attributed to Al-Jazeera Net the plan to restructure the company's organizational structure in order to adapt to market conditions and Israeli as well as American restrictions, and also adapt to the challenges facing the Israeli cyber market due to the position of the Ministry of Security in Tel Aviv, which stands aside to see how the Americans manage and plan the global cyber market.

And the journalist specializing in high-tech and technology affairs suggested that the measures of the Israeli Ministry of Security in particular could have a negative impact on the future of Israeli electronic companies that are not working well at the present time.

He explained that some companies were disintegrated and separated and others were sold to others. There are many changes in the field specifically with regard to Israeli investors, and this is due to the movements of the Americans and their quest to take over the global market and major Israeli companies.