Following the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisting of the NSO Group, Israel is reported to have significantly reduced the number of countries who can procure its cyber tech, on grounds of their human rights track record.
Sources speaking to Israel’s Calcalist financial news, the international concern over NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has urged the authorities to reduce the number of countries who can purchase Israeli cyber tech. The source reported that the number of eligible buyers has been reduced to a mere 37 countries, from 102.
The Pegasus spyware is a dreaded cutting-edge software that turns a private mobile into a surveillance station, infiltrating the device’s content. It is known to permeate mobile systems with astonishing ease, without the need for the target to click on a malicious link, or download any application itself.
It has made headlines due to its alleged use by governments with rather depressing human rights records. The U.S. State Department had explained the NSO Group being added to the Entities List over evidence indicating that the company’s products have been instrumentalised to “conduct transnational repression.”
