The Former Israeli Spies Working in Top Jobs at Google, Facebook and Microsoft – MintPress - June 2023

AMintPress study has found that hundreds of former agents of the notorious Israeli spying organization, Unit 8200, have attained positions of influence in many of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.

The Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) Unit 8200 is infamous for surveilling the indigenous Palestinian population, amassing kompromat on individuals for the purposes of blackmail and extortion. Spying on the world’s rich and famous, Unit 8200 hit the headlines last year, after the Pegasus scandal broke. Former Unit 8200 officers designed and implemented software that spied on tens of thousands of politicians and likely aided in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

#NSO #Pegasus #Israel #Unit8200 #ProjectNimbus #Google #Meta #Facebook #Microsoft #Intel #spyware #surveillance

Pegasus: the famous spyware attacks in the Dominican Republic | DominicanToday - May 2023

Santo Domingo.- On May 2, Amnesty International issued a warning about the notorious Pegasus spyware operating in the Dominican Republic. The organization specifically highlighted an attack on investigative journalist Nuria Piera and identified the country as the third in the Americas, following Mexico and El Salvador, where Pegasus has been confirmed to target both journalists and human rights advocates.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, stated, “After uncovering multiple cases in Mexico and El Salvador, we will persist in investigating any evidence suggesting further usage of Pegasus in the Dominican Republic.”

The Dominican Republic is not just a charming island in the Caribbean, some historical background :
https://revcom.us/en/a/476/american-crime-case-68-1965-us-invasion-of-dominican-republic-en.html

#Pegasus #NSO #DominicanRepublic #Carribean

The growth of commercial spyware based intelligence providers without legal or ethical supervision – Talos - July 2023

Attackers have long used commercial products developed by legitimate companies to compromise targeted devices. These products are known as commercial spyware. Commercial spyware operations mainly target mobile platforms with zero- or one-click zero-day exploits to deliver spyware. This threat initially came to light with the leaks of HackingTeam back in 2015, but gained new notoriety with public reporting on the NSO Group, and, in the years that have followed, the landscape has exploded.

There are now numerous companies with similar offerings, like Intellexa, DSIRF, Variston IT, and the newly disclosed Quadream representing just a small subset — there are likely more that are operating covertly today.

#Quadream #VaristonIT #DSIRF #Intellexa #NSO

Spanish court halts probe into Israeli spyware hacking of Pedro Sánchez’s phone - Politico - July 2023

Spain National Court announced Monday that the investigation into the phone hacking which targeted Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been put on hold, due to Israel's failure to provide information on the case.

Pegasus, a spyware product from the Israeli company NSO, was used to hack into Sanchez's phone between 2020 and 2021. The phones belonging to Spain's ministers of defense, interior and agriculture were also spied on. Around three gigabytes of information were allegedly stolen from Sánchez's phone.

José Luis Calama, a judge at Spain's National Court, said that "the very security of the state has been put in jeopardy," during the spyware hacks, as reported by local media Monday.The Spanish court asked Israel to provide information on the matter more than a year ago — but never received an answer..

#Spain #Pegasus #NSO

Facebook approached NSO to buy Pegasus spyware capabilities to monitor certain iOS users, according to a statement filed in a court case by the NSO CEO


WhatsApp vs. NSO Group, et al.
4:19-cv-07123-PJH

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6824735-Declaration-of-Shalev-Hulio-in-Support-of.html

#Pegasus #NSO #Israel #Facebook #Ios #Apple

😅Не знаю как можно смотреть без улыбки на такие новости/расследования.

😅I don't know how you can look at such news/investigations without a smile.

📑Who Paid for a Mysterious Spy Tool? The F.B.I., an F.B.I. Inquiry Found.
"When The New York Times reported in April that a contractor had purchased and deployed a spying tool made by NSO, the contentious Israeli hacking firm, for use by the U.S. government, White House officials said they were unaware of the contract and put the F.B.I. in charge of figuring out who might have been using the technology.
After an investigation, the F.B.I. uncovered at least part of the answer: It was the F.B.I."🤣
📑FBI Ordered to Find Out Which Agency Disobeyed White House in Secret Deal, Finds Out It Was Itself.
"Now, several months later, the bureau’s investigation is complete, and it turns out that the agency that disobeyed the White House and purchased the creepy NSO tool was...the FBI."🤣

#NSO_Group #unit8200 #FBI #investigation #WhiteHouse #spy_tools #Pegasus_Spyware

Israeli Shin Bet opposes Pegasus probe, cites security concerns | Al Mayadeen English – August 2023

The Israeli internal security agency, the Shin Bet, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the "National Security Council" that it opposed Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposal to grant an investigative committee the authority to probe the Pegasus spyware, according to I24news Israeli Website.

Levin is set to propose to the government on Sunday to grant the committee the authority to look into the Pegasus spyware scandal.

The Shin Bet informed Netanyahu and the security council of its opposition to Levin's proposal for several reasons, most notably the exposure of its capabilities to the Israeli public, which may lead to secrets being exposed.

#Pegasus #NSO #Israel #SinBet
#spyware

The FBI recently uploaded a heavily redacted file on Israeli spy firm NSO Group, the organization behind the Pegasus spyware:"

The FBI's response to Wyden's inquiry about the use of mobile ad IDs, along with significant sections covering the bureau's relationship with NSO Group, is fully redacted, adding to this is : no file download possible..

https://vault.fbi.gov/nso-group/nso-group-part-01/view


#FBI #Pegasus #NSO #US

New Flaw in Apple Devices Led to Spyware Infection, Researchers Say

Researchers at digital watchdog group Citizen Lab said on Thursday they found #spyware they linked to Israeli firm #NSO that exploited a newly discovered flaw in #Apple (AAPL.O) devices.

While inspecting the Apple device of an employee of a Washington-based civil society group last week, Citizen Lab said it found the flaw had been used to infect the device with NSO's Pegasus spyware, it said in a statement.

🔗Source: Reuters

Substack | Twitter | Minds

📡 Follow:
@G3News

Citizen Lab (@citizenlab): "🚨🚨WE URGE EVERYONE TO UPDATE THEIR APPLE DEVICES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We have found an actively exploited #zero #click vulnerability that was used to deliver #NSO group’s #Pegasus #spyware. https://citizenlab.ca/2023/09/blastpass-nso-group-iphone-zero-click-zero-day-exploit-captured-in-the-wild/" | nitter – https://nitter.net/citizenlab/status/1699873620070191520#m

"The Polish Senate Committee has published its report into the use of #Pegasus spyware in Poland. @amnestytech and @amnestypl provided expert testimony to the investigation, which concludes that the purchase and use of Pegasus was unlawful"

Prace / Druki / Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej – https://www.senat.gov.pl/prace/druki/

#NSO #Pegasus #Poland #EU

India: Damning new forensic investigation reveals repeated use of Pegasus spyware to target high-profile journalists - Amnesty International –

Forensic investigations by Amnesty International’s Security Lab confirmed that Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of The Wire, and Anand Mangnale, the South Asia Editor at The Organised Crime and Corruption Report Project (OCCRP), were among the journalists recently targeted with Pegasus spyware on their iPhones, with the latest identified case occurring in October 2023.

#India #Pegasus #NSO #Spyware #Iphones

Kaspersky reveals new method to detect Pegasus spyware | Kaspersky –

Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) has developed a lightweight method to detect indicators of infection from sophisticated iOS spyware such as #Pegasus, #Reign, and #Predator through analyzing Shutdown.log, a previously unexplored #forensic artifact.

The company’s experts discovered Pegasus infections leave traces in the unexpected system log, Shutdown.log, stored within any mobile #iOS device’s sysdiagnose archive. This archive retains information from each reboot session, meaning anomalies associated with the Pegasus malware become apparent in the log if an infected user reboots their device.

Among those identified were instances of ”sticky“ processes impeding reboots, particularly those linked to Pegasus, along with infection traces discovered through cybersecurity community observations.

#Pegasus #NSO #Reign #Predador #iOS #Spyware #Malware #Kapersky #MobileForensics #CyberSec

NSO Group Is Quietly Plotting a Comeback

NSO Group’s new transparency report arrives amid an apparent push by the spyware vendor to revamp its tarnished image and reverse US regulations that have damaged its business. To achieve its goal, the cyber-intelligence firm is conducting a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign that attempts to position the company’s spyware as essential for global security

NSO appears to be trying to rebrand itself as being on the side of the “good guys,” make inroads with the Biden administration, and ultimately reverse the ban on its products To succeed in its image-rehabilitation efforts, the spyware vendor has enlisted multiple public affairs consultancies and law firms, including government relations firm Chartwell Strategy Group and law firms Paul Hastings LLP, Steptoe, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, according to lobbying disclosure documents. In the past three years #NSO had also enlisted the services of Bluelight Strategies and Cherie Blair’s Omnia Strategy in the UK

Confirming Large-Scale Pegasus Surveillance of Jordan-based Civil Society | The Citizen Lab

As part of a collaborative investigation led by Access Now, Citizen Lab researchers conducted forensic analysis of iPhones belonging to members of Jordan-based civil society

The investigation into the targeting of Jordanian civil society with Pegasus was led by Access Now, with the collaboration of Access Now’s local partners, alongside Amnesty Tech, the Citizen Lab, Human Rights Watch, and the Organized Crime and the Corruption Reporting Project.

The investigation found that at least 35 individuals were infected or targeted with Pegasus spyware, from at least 2019 until September 2023, but does not preclude the possibility of infections occurring before or after this timeframe.

#Pegasus #NSO #Spyware #Jordan

High Court grants permission for journalist's legal case against UAE's alleged spyware use - Solicitors Journal

Rania Dridi, a journalist and former activist known for her involvement in the Tunisian revolution of 2011, has been granted permission by the High Court in London to initiate legal proceedings against the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The case revolves around the alleged use of Pegasus spyware to infiltrate her mobile phone, marking a significant development in the realm of digital surveillance and transnational repression.

#Pegasus #NSO #Tunisia #UAE
#RaniaDridi #Journalist

Judge Orders NSO Group to Surrender Pegasus Source Code to Meta | BitDefender - March 2024

A US Judge ordered the infamous spyware developer and vendor NSO Group to turn over its source code to Meta as part of an almost four-year lawsuit.

Meta sued NSO in 2019 after the American company discovered that a zero-day WhatsApp vulnerability was used to deploy the spyware. According to a Guardian report, the NSO's spyware was allegedly used against 1,400 people in the course of just two weeks.

#Pegasus #NSO vs #Meta #WhatsApp #SourceCode

"Is Pegasus 2.0 coming?

Apple warns iPhone users in India and 91 other countries about potential spyware attacks. The company previously sent similar warnings to Indian politicians, suggesting possible state-sponsored spyware attacks."

Apple warns some Indian users their iPhone may be bugged by Pegasus-type spyware | Technology News - The Indian Express -

#Pegasus #NSO #Apple #iPhone #India #Spyware

Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater and the Off Leash group chat links with NSO

Lishem is also a co-founder of a company called Carbyne, which “brought together a who’s who of power brokers and intelligence figures from multiple regions including Russia, China and the Trump administration itself.

#Carbyne’s board members, executives and shareholders have reportedly included Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. #Bush; Peter #Thiel, the billionaire GOP megadonor and founder of intelligence contractor #Palantir Technologies; and -- who else -- Jeffrey #Epstein, the long-rumored #Mossad asset and convicted pedophile who committed suicide at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019.

Eran Karpen, a co-founder of Unplugged, is a veteran of #Unit8200 which “specializes in eavesdropping, codebreaking, and cyber warfare [and is] ,”. Karpen was previously a senior executive with #CommuniTake, a startup that the #NSO Group emerged from.

#Blackwater