FILE PHOTO ©Jaap Arriens ZUMA Press via Global Look Press
15 Dec, 2021
RT
A group of US lawmakers want to put sanctions on leading spyware companies, including Israel’s embattled NSO Group, the producer of the hacking kit Pegasus, Reuters has reported.
Other targets for potential US sanctions include the United Arab Emirates spyware maker DarkMatter, and European firms Nexa Technologies and Trovicor, which also offer clients electronic surveillance services, the news agency said.
A group of 18 Democrat legislators, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, have sent a letter to the Treasury Department and State Department, asking to initiate sanctions against the listed companies. Reuters read the letter and talked to some of its sponsors.
The proposed sanctions would be put in place under the so-called 2016 Global Magnitsky Act, a legal framework which authorizes the US government to punish parties anywhere in the world accused of human rights violations. The punishments include freezing of assets and travel restrictions. The signatories said by cutting them off from US investments and financial services, the sanctions would “send a clear signal to the surveillance technology industry” about better vetting their clients.
READ MORE
Pegasus spyware linked to Israel branding Palestinian rights NGOs as terrorists – report
“These surveillance mercenaries sold their services to authoritarian regimes with long records of human rights abuses, giving vast spying powers to tyrants,” Wyden told Reuters.
“Predictably, those nations used surveillance tools to lock up, torture and murder reporters and human rights advocates,” he added. “The Biden administration has the chance to turn off the spigot of American dollars and help put them out of business for good.”
Pegasus maker NSO Group is already targeted by US restrictions. In November, it was added to the so-called Entity List, and now requires a special permission to acquire supplies or services from US providers. The Israeli firm is reportedly on the brink of being shut down completely amid a number of scandals and lawsuits surrounding its global hack-for-hire business.
DarkMatter was sued last week by the privacy advocacy Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of Saudi human rights activist Loujain AlHathloul. The lawsuit accuses the firm and three of its former executives, who are former US intelligence operatives, of illegally hacking AlHathloul’s iPhone. The surveillance program called Project Raven was first exposed by Reuters in 2019.
Nexa Technologies, formerly known as Amesys, stands accused of supplying surveillance technology to Libya under Muammar Gaddafi and Egypt under Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It was allegedly used to spy on and persecute dissidents and critics of the respective governments. In June, four executives were indicted in France with complicity in torture and forced disappearances.
Trovicor, a divested unit of German-Finish venture Nokia Siemens Networks, was accused of doing similarly tainted business with the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, Iran, and Yemen, among others.
“These surveillance mercenaries sold their services to authoritarian regimes with long records of human rights abuses, giving vast spying powers to tyrants,” Wyden told Reuters.
“Predictably, those nations used surveillance tools to lock up, torture and murder reporters and human rights advocates,” he added. “The Biden administration has the chance to turn off the spigot of American dollars and help put them out of business for good.”
Pegasus maker NSO Group is already targeted by US restrictions. In November, it was added to the so-called Entity List, and now requires a special permission to acquire supplies or services from US providers. The Israeli firm is reportedly on the brink of being shut down completely amid a number of scandals and lawsuits surrounding its global hack-for-hire business.
DarkMatter was sued last week by the privacy advocacy Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of Saudi human rights activist Loujain AlHathloul. The lawsuit accuses the firm and three of its former executives, who are former US intelligence operatives, of illegally hacking AlHathloul’s iPhone. The surveillance program called Project Raven was first exposed by Reuters in 2019.
Nexa Technologies, formerly known as Amesys, stands accused of supplying surveillance technology to Libya under Muammar Gaddafi and Egypt under Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It was allegedly used to spy on and persecute dissidents and critics of the respective governments. In June, four executives were indicted in France with complicity in torture and forced disappearances.
Trovicor, a divested unit of German-Finish venture Nokia Siemens Networks, was accused of doing similarly tainted business with the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, Iran, and Yemen, among others.
Pegasus: US officials call on NSO and Dark Matter to face sanctions
More than a dozen Democratic officials called on the US State and Treasury Department to sanction executives DarkMatter and NSO
Saudi Arabia has been accused of using the Pegasus software to target Middle East Eye's Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu and columnist Jamal Khashoggi (AFP)
By MEE and agencies
Published date: 15 December 2021
A group of US officials is calling on the US State Department and Treasury to sanction the Israeli NSO Group and UAE-based Dark Matter cybersecurity company for helping authoritarian governments commit human rights abuses.
A letter sent late on Tuesday, seen by Reuters, called on the US to use Global Magnitsky sanctions to reprimand top executives from NSO, Dark Matter and European online bulk surveillance companies Nexa Technologies and Trovicor.
Pegasus: Saudi Arabia targets Middle East Eye's Turkey bureau chief
More than a dozen Democratic officials called on the US State and Treasury Department to sanction executives DarkMatter and NSO
Saudi Arabia has been accused of using the Pegasus software to target Middle East Eye's Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu and columnist Jamal Khashoggi (AFP)
By MEE and agencies
Published date: 15 December 2021
A group of US officials is calling on the US State Department and Treasury to sanction the Israeli NSO Group and UAE-based Dark Matter cybersecurity company for helping authoritarian governments commit human rights abuses.
A letter sent late on Tuesday, seen by Reuters, called on the US to use Global Magnitsky sanctions to reprimand top executives from NSO, Dark Matter and European online bulk surveillance companies Nexa Technologies and Trovicor.
Pegasus: Saudi Arabia targets Middle East Eye's Turkey bureau chief
Read More »
Among the letter's signatories include the Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff and 16 other Democratic officials.
The letter called on the State and Treasury Department to freeze the bank accounts and ban travel to the United States of executives from the listed companies.
"To meaningfully punish them and send a clear signal to the surveillance technology industry, the US government should deploy financial sanctions," the letter noted.
It added that the companies facilitated the "disappearance, torture, and murder of human rights activists and journalists".
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that NSO was considering selling its entire company or shutting down its Pegasus unit as it risks defaulting on its debt.
In December, Reuters reported that the iPhones of at least nine US State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using spyware developed by NSO.
In November, Apple sued the NSO group, saying that it violated US laws by breaking into the software installed on iPhones.
Israel's NSO has faced immense criticism for selling its Pegasus software to governments targeting dissidents and journalists.
Pegasus has been used by governments, including Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to illegally access the phone data of activists and journalists worldwide.
The Pegasus software can be used to remotely access data on a user's phone once it's infected with the software.
Notable victims of the Pegasus software breach include Middle East Eye columnist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 by Saudi officials.
French President Emanuel Macron was also targeted by the Pegasus software, alongside Egyptian diplomats and Roula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, according to reports by the Pegasus Project.
Among the letter's signatories include the Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff and 16 other Democratic officials.
The letter called on the State and Treasury Department to freeze the bank accounts and ban travel to the United States of executives from the listed companies.
"To meaningfully punish them and send a clear signal to the surveillance technology industry, the US government should deploy financial sanctions," the letter noted.
It added that the companies facilitated the "disappearance, torture, and murder of human rights activists and journalists".
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that NSO was considering selling its entire company or shutting down its Pegasus unit as it risks defaulting on its debt.
In December, Reuters reported that the iPhones of at least nine US State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using spyware developed by NSO.
In November, Apple sued the NSO group, saying that it violated US laws by breaking into the software installed on iPhones.
Israel's NSO has faced immense criticism for selling its Pegasus software to governments targeting dissidents and journalists.
Pegasus has been used by governments, including Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to illegally access the phone data of activists and journalists worldwide.
The Pegasus software can be used to remotely access data on a user's phone once it's infected with the software.
Notable victims of the Pegasus software breach include Middle East Eye columnist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 by Saudi officials.
French President Emanuel Macron was also targeted by the Pegasus software, alongside Egyptian diplomats and Roula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, according to reports by the Pegasus Project.
US lawmakers call for sanctions against Israel's NSO, other spyware firms
By Joseph Menn and Joel Schectman
Reuters
December 15, 2021
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of U.S. lawmakers is asking the Treasury Department and State Department to sanction Israeli spyware firm NSO Group and three other foreign surveillance companies they say helped authoritarian governments commit human rights abuses.
Their letter sent late Tuesday and seen by Reuters also asks for sanctions on top executives at NSO, the United Arab Emirates cybersecurity company DarkMatter, and European online bulk surveillance companies Nexa Technologies and Trovicor.
The lawmakers asked for Global Magnitsky sanctions, which punishes those who are accused of enabling human rights abuses by freezing bank accounts and banning travel to the United States.
DarkMatter could not be reached for comment. The other three companies did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The letter was signed by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and 16 other Democratic lawmakers. Along with other reporting on the industry, they cite a recent Reuters article this month showing that NSO spyware was used against State Department employees in Uganda.
The lawmakers said the spyware industry relies on U.S. investment and banks. "To meaningfully punish them and send a clear signal to the surveillance technology industry, the U.S. government should deploy financial sanctions," they wrote.
The letter says the companies facilitated the "disappearance, torture and murder of human rights activists and journalists." Surveillance firms have drawn increasing scrutiny from Washington as a barrage of media reports have tied them to human rights abuses.
"These surveillance mercenaries sold their services to authoritarian regimes with long records of human rights abuses, giving vast spying powers to tyrants," Wyden told Reuters. "Predictably, those nations used surveillance tools to lock up, torture and murder reporters and human rights advocates. The Biden administration has the chance to turn off the spigot of American dollars and help put them out of business for good."
In November, the Commerce Department put NSO on the so-called Entity List, prohibiting U.S. suppliers from selling software or services to the Israeli spyware maker without getting special permission.
A number of legal challenges also threaten the industry. Last week a prominent Saudi activist and the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation sued DarkMatter, alleging the group hacked into her phone.
Apple sued NSO Group in November, saying that it violated U.S. laws by breaking into the software installed on iPhones.
A 2019 Reuters investigation, cited in the letter, also exposed a secret hacking unit within DarkMatter, known as Project Raven, that helped the UAE spy on its enemies. In a September settlement with the Justice Department, three members of that unit, all former U.S. intelligence operatives, admitted to breaking hacking laws.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Joel Schectman and Christopher Bing in Washington; Editing by Christopher Sanders and Lisa Shumaker)
By Joseph Menn and Joel Schectman
Reuters
December 15, 2021
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of U.S. lawmakers is asking the Treasury Department and State Department to sanction Israeli spyware firm NSO Group and three other foreign surveillance companies they say helped authoritarian governments commit human rights abuses.
Their letter sent late Tuesday and seen by Reuters also asks for sanctions on top executives at NSO, the United Arab Emirates cybersecurity company DarkMatter, and European online bulk surveillance companies Nexa Technologies and Trovicor.
The lawmakers asked for Global Magnitsky sanctions, which punishes those who are accused of enabling human rights abuses by freezing bank accounts and banning travel to the United States.
DarkMatter could not be reached for comment. The other three companies did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The letter was signed by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and 16 other Democratic lawmakers. Along with other reporting on the industry, they cite a recent Reuters article this month showing that NSO spyware was used against State Department employees in Uganda.
The lawmakers said the spyware industry relies on U.S. investment and banks. "To meaningfully punish them and send a clear signal to the surveillance technology industry, the U.S. government should deploy financial sanctions," they wrote.
The letter says the companies facilitated the "disappearance, torture and murder of human rights activists and journalists." Surveillance firms have drawn increasing scrutiny from Washington as a barrage of media reports have tied them to human rights abuses.
"These surveillance mercenaries sold their services to authoritarian regimes with long records of human rights abuses, giving vast spying powers to tyrants," Wyden told Reuters. "Predictably, those nations used surveillance tools to lock up, torture and murder reporters and human rights advocates. The Biden administration has the chance to turn off the spigot of American dollars and help put them out of business for good."
In November, the Commerce Department put NSO on the so-called Entity List, prohibiting U.S. suppliers from selling software or services to the Israeli spyware maker without getting special permission.
A number of legal challenges also threaten the industry. Last week a prominent Saudi activist and the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation sued DarkMatter, alleging the group hacked into her phone.
Apple sued NSO Group in November, saying that it violated U.S. laws by breaking into the software installed on iPhones.
A 2019 Reuters investigation, cited in the letter, also exposed a secret hacking unit within DarkMatter, known as Project Raven, that helped the UAE spy on its enemies. In a September settlement with the Justice Department, three members of that unit, all former U.S. intelligence operatives, admitted to breaking hacking laws.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Joel Schectman and Christopher Bing in Washington; Editing by Christopher Sanders and Lisa Shumaker)
No comments:
Post a Comment