The targeting of 37 smartphones would appear to conflict with the stated purpose of NSO’s licensing of the Pegasus spyware, which the company says is meant for surveilling terrorists and criminals.
Storyboard
The Pegasus Project
Military-grade spyware leased by the Israeli firm NSO Group to governments for tracking terrorists and criminals was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, business executives and the two women closest to murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to an investigation by The Washington Post and 16 media partners led by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories.
NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was used to secretly target the smartphones of the two women closest to murdered Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to digital forensic analysis.
Pegasus can collect emails, call records, social media posts, user passwords, contact lists, pictures, videos, sound recordings and browsing histories, according to researchers and NSO marketing materials.
The Israeli surveillance giant NSO Group and companies linked to it or its founders have spent millions of dollars in hopes of wooing their way into the U.S. market.
NSO Group has said repeatedly that its surveillance tools do not work against smartphones based in the U.S., but Americans traveling overseas and using foreign cellphones may not enjoy protection.
The purpose of the list is unknown, and NSO disputes that it was a list of surveillance targets.
Several current and former officials said they presumed that the company provides at least some information to the government in Jerusalem about who is using its spying products.
The princess had been careful, so she left her phone in the cafe’s bathroom. She’d seen what her father could do to women who tried to escape.
In 2017, investigators discovered traces of Pegasus spyware on the phones of several Mexican journalists and civic activists.
In communist-era Hungary, citizens were recruited to spy on their neighbors. In the Hungary of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a spyware tool has been deployed to similar effect, monitoring people with technology.
A powerful surveillance tool licensed only to governments was used to infiltrate mobile phones belonging to at least seven people in India and was active on some of their devices as recently as this month.
More than a dozen Indian activists have been imprisoned without trial and accused of plotting to overthrow the government in what is known as the Bhima Koregaon case.
How vulnerable are you to such spyware? Are there steps you can take to keep your phone safe? Here are some answers.
NSO Group is at the center of a global debate over the weaponization of powerful and largely unregulated surveillance technology.
The head of the Israeli surveillance giant NSO Group pledged Sunday to investigate potential cases of human rights abuses following a sweeping report by The Washington Post and other media organizations.
Investigation has fueled the debate over whether Apple has done enough to ensure the security of its devices.
Post Reports, a daily podcast from The Washington Post, covers the military-grade spyware that’s being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and business executives.
Why The Post joined news organizations across the globe to bring you this investigation.
