Post by account_disabled on Feb 25, 2024 0:07:18 GMT -5
As a tool to attack opponents of various governments around the world and even as a form of international espionage. What is the NSO group? NSO Group (Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the group's founders) is an Israeli cyber company founded in and a subsidiary of Q Cyber Technologies, the name used by NSO in Israel. The group is also known under the name OSY Technologies in Luxembourg and North American countries. Previously off the radar of public debates, the group became known worldwide through Pegasus, a monitoring spyware developed to infect smartphones. NSO states that it only provides technologies authorized by governments with the aim of helping to combat organized crime and terrorism. The company also states that it only does business directly with governments. Pegasus itself is considered a cyberweapon by the Israeli government, and any export of it can only be done with government approval.
In recent years, NSO has been the target of several lawsuits and investigations, mainly due to accusations that its spyware has been used to attack human rights activists, journalists, government opponents and even ordinary citizens. Espionage against Pakistani authorities, illegal surveillance of Israeli citizens, shady negotiations with the Brazilian government in 2021 and even the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (an opponent of the Saudi regime) are some of the reports of malicious and illegal use of Pegasus. One of the most significant cases Coinbase Virtual Currency Database occurred in , when the instant messaging company WhatsApp (linked to Meta) sued NSO under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act due to the spread of malware through the application and of the invasion of privacy of users' communications through it. In , Apple also filed a lawsuit against NSO in the United States, which caused the US government to include the company on the list of risk agents against US national security and foreign interests.
American companies were prohibited from doing business with NSO. Despite denying accusations of attacking victims, NSO did not deny creating Pegasus. In addition to Pegasus, NSO is also responsible for creating Phantom, a mobile device hacking mechanism created specifically for American companies. However, there are suspicions that Phantom is just another name for Pegasus, which does not allow us to say whether they are two different things or the same spyware. Related articles As TUTORIAL How to test if your cell phone is spying on you? Oct min read One CYBERSECURITY An Explanation of What the Trojan Horse Virus Is · 6 min read How does Pegasus work? Pegasus is a very invasive malware and is generally spread through phishing attacks (widely used in several online scams in Brazil ). The victim receives text messages with links infected with the Pegasus malware. When the victim clicks the link, the device becomes infected with Pegasus. One of the most dangerous and harmful elements that contributes most to the spread of Pegasus is the zero-click feature, which allows constant surveillance, facilitates the spread of malware and does not require the victim to do absolutely anything to remain active.
In recent years, NSO has been the target of several lawsuits and investigations, mainly due to accusations that its spyware has been used to attack human rights activists, journalists, government opponents and even ordinary citizens. Espionage against Pakistani authorities, illegal surveillance of Israeli citizens, shady negotiations with the Brazilian government in 2021 and even the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (an opponent of the Saudi regime) are some of the reports of malicious and illegal use of Pegasus. One of the most significant cases Coinbase Virtual Currency Database occurred in , when the instant messaging company WhatsApp (linked to Meta) sued NSO under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act due to the spread of malware through the application and of the invasion of privacy of users' communications through it. In , Apple also filed a lawsuit against NSO in the United States, which caused the US government to include the company on the list of risk agents against US national security and foreign interests.
American companies were prohibited from doing business with NSO. Despite denying accusations of attacking victims, NSO did not deny creating Pegasus. In addition to Pegasus, NSO is also responsible for creating Phantom, a mobile device hacking mechanism created specifically for American companies. However, there are suspicions that Phantom is just another name for Pegasus, which does not allow us to say whether they are two different things or the same spyware. Related articles As TUTORIAL How to test if your cell phone is spying on you? Oct min read One CYBERSECURITY An Explanation of What the Trojan Horse Virus Is · 6 min read How does Pegasus work? Pegasus is a very invasive malware and is generally spread through phishing attacks (widely used in several online scams in Brazil ). The victim receives text messages with links infected with the Pegasus malware. When the victim clicks the link, the device becomes infected with Pegasus. One of the most dangerous and harmful elements that contributes most to the spread of Pegasus is the zero-click feature, which allows constant surveillance, facilitates the spread of malware and does not require the victim to do absolutely anything to remain active.