Scandal-hit Israeli phone-snooping firm backs international spyware rules
PARIS, France — The Israeli company at the heart of the
Pegasus surveillance scandal on Tuesday said it would support international
regulation to prevent repressive governments from abusing powerful spyware like
its own.
In a letter to the United Nations, seen by AFP, the NSO
Group expressed “strong support for the creation of an international legal
framework” to govern technology that allows for highly invasive snooping on
people’s mobile phones.
NSO was engulfed in controversy in July over reports that
tens of thousands of human rights activists, journalists, politicians and
business executives worldwide were listed as potential targets of its Pegasus
software.
Smartphones infected with Pegasus are essentially turned into
pocket spying devices, allowing the user to read the target’s messages, look
through their photos, track their location and even turn on their camera
without them knowing.
NSO said in the letter that it took the allegations made by
international media outlets “extremely seriously” and that it had launched an
immediate investigation after the scandal blew up in July.
“Any accusation that Pegasus has been misused by a State or
State agency to target any journalist, human rights defender or political
leader in violation of their human rights is naturally very concerning,” the
company’s chairman, Asher Levy, wrote.
NSO has faced a torrent of criticism over the use of its
software, but it insists Pegasus is intended to help governments fight crime
and terrorism — and that it has been used many times to do so.
“How can governments catch pedophiles and prevent terrorist
attacks without these kinds of tools? There is no way,” a source close to the
company told AFP.
The source said the company vets potential clients over
ethical concerns and had turned down business worth “hundreds of millions of
dollars” from 55 countries.
NSO has also “previously terminated customer relationships
as a result of our human rights investigations,” Levy wrote in the letter.
Off-the-shelf NSA
A second source close to the company acknowledged, however,
that NSO has a limited ability to ensure that its software is not used for
nefarious purposes by the governments that have bought it.
“Sitting over the shoulder of a customer and seeing who
they’re targeting is something that we cannot do,” the source said.
The company’s letter to the UN, dated September 30, came in
response to a call in August from human rights experts at the world body for a
moratorium on such digital surveillance technology until regulation is put on
place.
NSO suggested the UN would be well-placed to lead the
process of setting up international rules to better regulate the off-the-shelf
surveillance sector, which has boomed in recent years.
The company would be “a constructive participant if given
the opportunity,” the letter said.
Critics say the widespread availability of software like
Pegasus now allows even cash-strapped authoritarian governments to effectively
purchase their own answer to the United States’ National Security Agency, with
highly invasive surveillance powers.
While companies offering such technology have sprung up
around the world, several have been founded in Israel, drawing recruits from
the military intelligence elite.
NSO suggested in its letter that companies in the sector
should be forced to have human rights compliance systems in place.
The UN could offer guidance on “which states to consider as
not having an acceptable track record of respecting international human
rights,” it added.
NSO continues to reject the media reports that rocked
governments around the world in July, saying they were plagued by “serious
shortcomings and material inaccuracies.”
“The number of purported targets — or possible targets – is
entirely implausible based on the number of licenses actually granted by NSO,”
it said in the letter.
Shockwaves from the scandal continue to reverberate several
months on.
In mid-September, Apple users were urged to update their
devices after researchers discovered a major software flaw that allowed Pegasus
to be installed on iPhones and iPads without the user even needing to click a
button.
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