Israeli software is used to spy on journalists and activists around the world

Founded in 2011 north of Tel Aviv, the company will be able to listen to news, photos, contacts and news when it is introduced on a smartphone. Calls from its owner.

The NSO group continues to be accused of playing into the hands of dictatorial regimes, but has always claimed that its software was used only to obtain intelligence against criminal or terrorist networks.

The survey, released Sunday by the Federation of 17 International Media Associations, including French newspapers The world, British Defender, And American Washington Post, Undermining its credibility.

Their work is based on a list of banned stories and a list obtained from Amnesty International, which they say includes NSO customers’ selected 50,000 phone numbers from 2016 for possible tracking.

This includes at least 180 journalists, 600 politicians, 85 human rights activists or 65 business leaders … According to a study conducted by the Federation, Morocco has a large number in Saudi Arabia or Mexico.

Jamal Kashogi’s relatives targeted him

The list also includes the number of Mexican journalist Cecilio Pineta Britto, who was shot just weeks after he appeared in the document. Including foreign correspondents of several major media outlets The Wall Street Journal, CNN, France 24, Mediapart, Country, Or AFP is also a part of it.

The names of other personalities on the list – especially the head of state and two heads of government – will be released in the coming days.

From journalists Pegasus Project He met with some of the holders of these numbers and recovered 67 phones subject to technical expertise at Amnesty International Laboratory.

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According to data released on Sunday, the NSO Group has confirmed infection or contagion with spyware on 37 devices, including 10 located in India.

The two phones belong to women close to Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoghi, who writes that he was killed in 2018 by a commando of agents from Saudi Arabia at his country’s consulate in Istanbul.

A group of Saudi agents assassinated disgruntled journalist Jamal Kashoki on October 2, 2018, on the premises of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo: via Getty Images / Mohamed Al-Sheikh

For the other 30, the results are endless, mostly because the owners of the numbers have switched phones.

There is a strong temporal relationship between the number of times the numbers appear on the list and how they are monitored., Indicates Washington Post.

The analysis comes in addition to a 2020 study by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Laboratory that confirmed the presence of Pegasus software on the phones of dozens of Al Jazeera staff in Qatar.

WhatsApp also admitted in 2019 that some of its users in India were spying on the software.

The company is attacking the credibility of the investigation

The NSO team, as always, Strongly denied the false allegations made In the survey.

It Complicated with flawed assumptions and unsubstantiated theories, the sources provided information without any factual basis, He wrote on his site, noting that he was considering filing a defamation complaint.

With the green light from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the NSO is far from the only Israeli organization suspected of providing spyware to foreign governments without the slightest concern for human rights.

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Software Devil’s Dong Microsoft and Citizen Lab experts said Thursday that CytoTech Ltd, also known as Condor, has been used against about 100 politicians, dissidents, journalists and activists.

Israel-based companies such as Nice Systems and Verind have provided technology to the secret police in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as well as Colombian security forces, the 2016 NGO Privacy International.

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