Israel\u2019s embattled cyber tech company NSO Group has denied wrongdoing as it called criticism of its sale of Pegasus spyware programme to non-democratic countries \u201chypocritical,\u201d comparing the surveillance technology to military weapons systems being sold by others, amid mounting allegations that software was misused globally, including in Israel. An undeterred Chief Executive Officer of NSO Group, Shalev Hulio, in an interview to Israeli Channel 12 on Saturday, strongly defended the company\u2019s operations, though he also conceded that some \u201cmistakes\u201d may have happened over the years.
\u201cI absolutely sleep soundly at night,\u201d Hulio told the Channel\u2019s interviewer when asked if he can do so amid so much worldwide criticism. Hulio\u2019s interview came a day after a New York Times report on Friday claimed that India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017, triggering a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to \u201ctreason\u201d.
\u201cThere is not one country we\u2019ve sold to, not one\u2026 that the US does not sell to, or that Israel doesn\u2019t sell to. So it\u2019s a bit hypocritical to say it\u2019s okay to sell F-35s and tanks and drones, but it\u2019s not okay to sell a tool that collects intelligence,\u201d Hulio said, defending the company\u2019s position.
He also pointed out that out of almost 90 clients that turned to them for the technology, they sold only to around 40 as per laid down norms. In reaction to the blacklisting of the company by the US Department of Commerce in November, the company\u2019s senior most executive called it an \u201coutrage\u201d that he hopes will be lifted soon. \u201cOur technology has over the years helped the interests and national security of the United States quite a bit,\u201d he claimed. \u201cI think the fact that a company like NSO is on [a US blacklist] is an outrage\u2026 I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be taken off that list. I have no doubt.\u201d
The NSO Group and its controversial Pegasus technology, which has grabbed attention of governments and people worldwide with allegations of misuse in India as well, was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce for acting \u201ccontrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US\u201d last year in November.
Israel distanced itself from the controversy triggered by the blacklisting of the NSO Group after allegations of illegal use of its Pegasus spyware to target government officials, activists and journalists globally, saying it is a private company and it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government.
In India, a row had erupted last year over Pegasus allegedly being used for targeted surveillance in India. An international investigative consortium had claimed that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were potentially targeted by the software.
The Indian government, however, had dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people.
Last October, the Indian Supreme Court set up a three-member independent expert panel to probe the alleged use of Pegasus for targeted surveillance in India, observing the state cannot get a \u201cfree pass\u201d every time the spectre of national security is raised and that its mere invocation cannot render the judiciary a \u201cmute spectator\u201d and be the bugbear it shies away from.
In his interview, Hulio also denied that Pegasus was used to hack the phone of French President Emmanuel Macron. He also denied any link between the company\u2019s products and the killing of dissent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Gulf Kingdom\u2019s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
\u201cIt\u2019s become something of a national pastime to blame anything that happens on NSO. A large part of the reports are simply untrue, are prejudiced, and it certainly sometimes angers [me] and sometimes frustrates. But in the end\u2026 we know the truth,\u201d the CEO asserted.
When asked if the NSO Group has made mistakes since its establishment, he said that \u201cover a period of 12 years it\u2019s impossible not to make mistakes, which you learn from\u201d, without sharing any details.
However, he also justified the presence of such a technology that can help prevent acts of terror and other serious crimes.
On the recent reports that the Israel Police used Pegasus to spy on civilians, including anti-Benjamin Netanyahu protesters and Israelis not suspected of any crimes, his answer was that he would like to think that they are untrue.
\u201cI, as a citizen, if the things that were written are true, it worries me personally. But as a citizen, I tell you I choose to believe the attorney general, the public security minister and the police chief who say time and again these things never happened,\u201d Hulio responded.
With controversies surrounding the company refusing to die down, Israeli Attorney Genera Avichai Mendelbit in January announced to set up a team to probe into alleged misuse of the snooping Pegasus technology by the Israeli police against its own citizens, including those not suspected of crime.
Israel established a committee in July last year to review the allegations of misuse of the NSO group\u2019s surveillance software and hinted at a possible \u201creview of the whole matter of giving licences\u201d.
Hulio, had welcomed the move, saying they would \u201cbe very pleased if there were an investigation so that we\u2019d be able to clear our name\u201d.
He had also claimed that there was an effort \u201cto smear the whole Israeli cyber industry\u201d.
The NSO executive had also emphasised that his company could not disclose the details of its contracts due to \u201cissues of confidentiality,\u201d but, \u201che would offer full transparency to any government seeking more details\u201d.
\u201cLet any state entity come along, any official from any state, and I\u2019ll be prepared to open everything up to them, for them to enter, to dig around from top to bottom,\u201d Hulio then said.
Israel\u2019s defence ministry had in a statement also threatened that if it finds that the NSO Group violated the terms of its export licenses, it will \u201ctake appropriate action\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel\u2019s embattled cyber tech company NSO Group has denied wrongdoing as it called criticism of its sale of Pegasus spyware programme to non-democratic countries \u201chypocritical,\u201d comparing the surveillance technology to military weapons systems being sold by others, amid mounting allegations that software was misused globally, including in Israel. An undeterred Chief Executive Officer of NSO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":248239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}