Frank Bajak
FILE - In this July 3, 2020, file photo, Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, talks to members of the media in Istanbul. Amnesty International reported that its forensic researchers had determined that NSO Group s flagship Pegasus spyware was successfully installed on the phone of Cengiz, just four days after Khashoggi was killed. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File) July 18, 2021 - 5:01 PM
BOSTON - An investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data provides further evidence that military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group, the worldâs most infamous hacker-for-hire outfit, is being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.
Boston
An investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data provides further evidence that military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire outfit, is being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.
From a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers obtained by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International and shared with 16 news organizations, journalists were able to identify more than 1,000 individuals in 50 countries who were allegedly selected by NSO clients for potential surveillance.
They include 189 journalists, more than 600 politicians and government officials, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists and several heads of state, according to The Washington Post, a consortium member. The journalists work for organizations including The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, The Wall Street Journal,
By FRANK BAJAKJuly 19, 2021 GMT
FILE - In this July 3, 2020, file photo, Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, talks to members of the media in Istanbul. Amnesty International reported that its forensic researchers had determined that NSO Group s flagship Pegasus spyware was successfully installed on the phone of Cengiz, just four days after Khashoggi was killed. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)
FILE - In this July 3, 2020, file photo, Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, talks to members of the media in Istanbul. Amnesty International reported that its forensic researchers had determined that NSO Group s flagship Pegasus spyware was successfully installed on the phone of Cengiz, just four days after Khashoggi was killed. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)
Israeli Spyware Maker Is in Spotlight Amid Reports of Wide Abuses
Data leaked to a consortium of news organizations suggests that several countries use Pegasus, a powerful cyberespionage tool, to spy on rights activists, dissidents and journalists.
An NSO Group display at the European Police Congress in Berlin last February.Credit.Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters
July 18, 2021Updated 9:22 p.m. ET
TEL AVIV A major Israeli cyber-surveillance company, NSO Group, came under heightened scrutiny Sunday after an international alliance of news outlets reported that governments used its software to target journalists, dissidents and opposition politicians.
The Israeli government also faced renewed international pressure for allowing the company to do business with authoritarian regimes that use the spyware for purposes that go far afield of the company’s stated aim: targeting terrorists and criminals.
Investigation finds journalists, activists around the globe among Israeli firm’s spyware targets MarketWatch 3 hrs ago
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON An investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data provides further evidence that military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire outfit, is being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.
From a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers obtained by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International and shared with 16 news organizations, journalists were able to identify more than 1,000 individuals in 50 countries who were allegedly selected by NSO clients for potential surveillance.