This post was first published on 15 June 2022
Update 12 July 2022
President Bidens’ administration’s decision to blacklist the NSO Group is proving to be a problem for L3Harris, a US defence contractor that wants to buy the Pegasus spyware part of the business:
L3Harris in move to buy NSO Group • The Register
Original post:
The is no doubt that the NSO Group’s, Pegasus Spyware has been a successful product, even if the ethics have been a bit dodgy:
Pegasus Sptware Stories at Smart Thinking Solutions – there are quite a few – with political organisations, opposition politicians, human rights activists and Prime Ministers among the targets being spied on.
Of course the NSO Group and the Israeli government both say they only sell the spyware to legitimate governments and authorised law enforcement agencies.
Pegasus not used unlawfully – according to Israeli government enquiry – Smart Thinking Solutions
Now a US company that specialises in defence contracts, L3Harris is making a bid to buy the technology and so gain control over the hacking tools. This would include key personnel involved with the Pegasus project and the code – so it is not likely that the spyware will cease to be sold.