Bill Bostock
Mon, January 31, 2022
A composite image showing former Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R.)
Getty/Hasan Bratic/
Pegasus is a powerful software from NSO Group that lets governments surveil electronics.
Israel's defense ministry stopped Saudi Arabia from using Pegasus in 2020, NYT Magazine said.
So MBS personally called Netanyahu and told him he needed to intervene, the magazine said.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene after his country blocked Saudi Arabia from accessing the powerful, Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, The New York Times Magazine reported.
Pegasus, a tool made by Israel's NSO Group for governments to spy on the electronics of terrorists and criminals, has also been used by governments including Saudi Arabia to spy on activists, state critics, and foreign officials.
In October 2020, the Israeli defense ministry declined to renew NSO's export license to a Saudi security agency, citing Riyadh's past abuse of Pegasus, the magazine said.
The lack of a new license meant that NSO could not update the Pegasus software for the Saudis, and it started crashing, the report said.
This prompted Crown Prince Mohammed to call Netanyahu, the magazine reported.
After the call, Netanyahu ordered the defense ministry to solve the issue and a new export license was granted within hours, giving Saudi authorities full use of Pegasus, the report said.
NSO, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, and the Israeli defense ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
NSO first welcomed Saudi Arabia as a client in 2017 but canceled the contract in late 2018 after the Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi was found to be murdered by Saudi state security agents.
The Post reported that the phone of Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's wife, was infected with the Pegasus software.
Despite this, Saudi Arabia's access to Pegasus was restored by NSO in early 2019, the magazine said.
In November, the US added NSO to a banned-entity list, preventing American companies from engaging with NSO.
Pegasus is a powerful software from NSO Group that lets governments surveil electronics.
Israel's defense ministry stopped Saudi Arabia from using Pegasus in 2020, NYT Magazine said.
So MBS personally called Netanyahu and told him he needed to intervene, the magazine said.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene after his country blocked Saudi Arabia from accessing the powerful, Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, The New York Times Magazine reported.
Pegasus, a tool made by Israel's NSO Group for governments to spy on the electronics of terrorists and criminals, has also been used by governments including Saudi Arabia to spy on activists, state critics, and foreign officials.
In October 2020, the Israeli defense ministry declined to renew NSO's export license to a Saudi security agency, citing Riyadh's past abuse of Pegasus, the magazine said.
The lack of a new license meant that NSO could not update the Pegasus software for the Saudis, and it started crashing, the report said.
This prompted Crown Prince Mohammed to call Netanyahu, the magazine reported.
After the call, Netanyahu ordered the defense ministry to solve the issue and a new export license was granted within hours, giving Saudi authorities full use of Pegasus, the report said.
NSO, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, and the Israeli defense ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
NSO first welcomed Saudi Arabia as a client in 2017 but canceled the contract in late 2018 after the Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi was found to be murdered by Saudi state security agents.
The Post reported that the phone of Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's wife, was infected with the Pegasus software.
Despite this, Saudi Arabia's access to Pegasus was restored by NSO in early 2019, the magazine said.
In November, the US added NSO to a banned-entity list, preventing American companies from engaging with NSO.
Indian opposition says government misled parliament over spyware use
The logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group is seen at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel
Mon, January 31, 2022
By Alasdair Pal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian opposition parties said on Monday they will move parliamentary motions accusing the government of providing misleading information around the use of technology from Israeli spyware firm NSO Group.
The New York Times reported on Friday India purchased NSO's Pegasus software as part of a $2 billion weapons package in 2017.
The government has previously denied reports it used Pegasus to spy on activists, journalists and politicians.
"This government is misleading the House, the Supreme Court, the people... as opposition, it's our responsibility to raise this issue," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the opposition Congress in parliament's lower house, told local media.
The Trinamool Congress, a second opposition party, said it would move a similar motion in the a session of India's parliament, that began on Monday.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
The logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group is seen at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel
Mon, January 31, 2022
By Alasdair Pal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian opposition parties said on Monday they will move parliamentary motions accusing the government of providing misleading information around the use of technology from Israeli spyware firm NSO Group.
The New York Times reported on Friday India purchased NSO's Pegasus software as part of a $2 billion weapons package in 2017.
The government has previously denied reports it used Pegasus to spy on activists, journalists and politicians.
"This government is misleading the House, the Supreme Court, the people... as opposition, it's our responsibility to raise this issue," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the opposition Congress in parliament's lower house, told local media.
The Trinamool Congress, a second opposition party, said it would move a similar motion in the a session of India's parliament, that began on Monday.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Pegasus: India parliament opens amid furore over Pegasus 'lies'
Mon, January 31, 2022
PM Modi's government is facing fresh allegations of buying Israeli spyware
India's parliament opened amid a political storm over fresh allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government bought Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to snoop on its critics.
The New York Times reported on Friday that India acquired Pegasus from Israel as part of a defence deal in 2017.
Similar allegations emerged last year, and the government had denied them.
Opposition parties are now accusing the government of lying to parliament and misleading the house.
The main opposition Congress has called for a "privilege motion" in parliament - used in instances when members are accused of committing a breach of privilege - against information and technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for "deliberately misleading the House".
Why Pegasus' snooping threatens India's democracy
"The government, on the floor of the House, always maintained that it had nothing to do with the Pegasus spyware and it never bought the spyware from the NSO Group... in light of the revelations… it appears that the Modi government has misled the parliament and the Supreme Court," Congress' leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, wrote in a letter to the Speaker.
The allegations are expected to result in a heated debate as parliament assembles for a joint session of both houses. This comes ahead of the annual budget, which will be tabled on Tuesday, and days before five states go to the polls to elect a new government.
A fresh plea seeking a police investigation has been filed in the Supreme Court, which began an inquiry into the matter when allegations first emerged last year.
What are the allegations?
Last year, Indian media outlet The Wire reported that some 160 Indians, including prominent activists, lawyers and politicians, were spied on using the Pegasus malware.
Pegasus infects iPhones and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones.
An investigation by a global consortium of media outlets showed how the malware was used by governments around the world to hack phones of dissidents. The targets' phone numbers were on a database believed to be of interest to clients of Israeli firm NSO.
It's unclear where the list came from or how many phones were hacked - and NSO has denied any wrongdoing. It said the software was intended for tracking criminals and terrorists and was only sold to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies from countries with good human rights records.
NSO was also accused of cyber attacks against Indian journalists and activists in 2019 - NSO Group denied the allegations.
Mr Modi's visit to Israel was followed by a rare trip to India by Mr Netanyahu
But the New York Times reported on Friday that Pegasus and a missile system were the "centrepieces" of a roughly $2bn deal that took place between India and Israel in 2017 when Mr Modi made his first trip to the country. The visit - and a subsequent one by Mr Netanyahu the following year - marked a significant turn in India's relationship with Israel.
The fresh allegations sparked a political storm, with opposition leaders demanding answers from Mr Modi.
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi accused the government of treason, and Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of acting "like the enemies of India".
What has Mr Modi 's government's said?
The government has denied that it ordered any unauthorised surveillance.
Last year, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had called the allegations a "sensational" attempt "to malign Indian democracy and its well established institutions" - he told parliament in September that the government "has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies".
But there has been no statement from Mr Modi or his ministers since the latest allegations emerged. Opposition politicians have questioned the government's "silence" on the issue and demanded that Mr Modi address the country.
In September, the Supreme Court set up a panel to look into the allegations after the government repeatedly failed to respond to its questions, citing national security. The court had said the government had left it with "no option but to accept the prima facie case made out by the petitioners".
No comments:
Post a Comment