An American defense company is in negotiations to buy the publisher of the PEGASUS spy software, according to the American press.
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The White House said this June 14, “deeply worried” of a buy -back project of the Israeli company NSO Group by an American group, Reveals the Washington Post . NSO Group publishes the PEGASUS spy software, designed to hack all the contents of a smartphone without its user noticing. In the summer of 2021, a media consortium, of which Le Monde had revealed that this software was used by a dozen countries to illegally spy on lawyers, human rights activists, journalists or political opponents.
In November, the United States had decided on a series of sanctions against the company, which has an Israeli export license for its software. American companies are not allowed to buy or sell products or services in NSO Group; This type of sanctions is usually reserved for Iranian or Chinese companies.
Revelations on the deviation of its software and American sanctions have contributed to placing NSO Group in a very difficult economic situation. The company threatens not to be able to repay its debt, estimated at 450 million euros, and experienced difficulties in the spring to pay its wages. According to the Israeli press, the owners of NSO Group, whose NovalPina Capital fund sought to sell the company , in particular by valuing its subsidiary specializing in drones.
This June 13, The specialized site Intelligence Online revealed that an American defense company, L3harris, which notably produces communication systems for the American army, negotiated the acquisition of NSO Group. The company did not wish to comment on this information, claiming that it was “speculation”.
anti-logging policy
The passage under the American pavilion of NSO Group would enter into direct contradiction with the policy pursued by the Biden administration on the subject of spy software. According to anonymous sources cited by the Washington Post, the Guardian and Haaretz, the US National Security Council is working on a global prohibition project for the purchase as for the sale of spy software which “pose a risk to national security or were used improperly abroad “.