Dirty Tricks by State

The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon  By Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/magazine/nso-group-israel-spyware.html  Jan. 28, 2022

NSO’s products seemed to solve one of the biggest problems facing law-enforcement and intelligence agencies in the 21st century: that criminals and terrorists had better technology for encrypting their communications than investigators had to decrypt them. The criminal world had gone dark even as it was increasingly going global...

.. Pegasus was designed to be unable to hack into American numbers. Then the Pegasus engineers, as they had in previous demonstrations around the world, opened their interface, entered the number of the phone and began an attack. ... This version of Pegasus was “zero click” — unlike more common hacking software, it did not require users to click on a malicious attachment or link — so the Americans monitoring the phones could see no evidence of an ongoing breach. ..

..Israel, wary of angering Americans by abetting the efforts of other countries to spy on the United States, had required NSO to program Pegasus so it was incapable of targeting U.S. numbers.  

...NSO had recently offered the F.B.I. a workaround. During a presentation to officials in Washington, the company demonstrated a new system, called Phantom, that could hack any number in the United States that the F.B.I. decided to target.

Another company, called CommuniTake, that offered cellphone tech-support workers the ability to take control of their customers’ devices — with permission. 

If they (law-enforcement and intelligence agencies) could control the device itself, though, they could collect the data before it was encrypted. CommuniTake had already figured out how to control the devices. All the partners needed was a way to do so without permission.

For Israel, the weapons trade has always been central to the country’s sense of national survival. It was a major driver of economic growth, which in turn funded further military research and development. 

In July 2017, Narendra Modi, who won office on a platform of Hindu nationalism, became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. For decades, India had maintained a policy of what it called “commitment to the Palestinian cause,” and relations with Israel were frosty. The Modi visit, however, was notably cordial, complete with a carefully staged moment of him and Prime Minister Netanyahu walking together barefoot on a local beach. They had reason for the warm feelings. Their countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with Pegasus and a missile system as the centerpieces. Months later, Netanyahu made a rare state visit to India. And in June 2019, India voted in support of Israel at the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization, a first for the nation.

Pegasus Snooping- Counsel Of Bhima Koregaon Accused Writes To SC-Appointed Technical Committee Suspecting Hacking Of His Device Srishti Ojha https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/pegasus-snooping-bhima-koregaon-elgar-parishad-case-counsel-supreme-court-technical-committee-189099   9 Jan 2022

Advocate Nihalsing B Rathod, a practicing lawyer based in Nagpur has argued that his phone was intercepted for accessing the privileged communication and legal strategies drawn on behalf of his clients in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad.

Mr Rathod represented several persons in proceedings arising out of Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad including Surendra Gadding, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe. Further, he was also consulted on numerous occasions by Anand Teltumbade and Stan Swami prior to their arrest.

Mr Rathod,has therefore sought an opportunity to appear before the committee and to cross examine the agencies that the Committee may summon in the course of the enquiry

Mr Rathod has insisted on the investigations into and disclosure of the following information:

Whether any agency of the government of India or state government or any organizations considered agencies of the State as defined in Article 12 of the Constitution procured Pegasus spyware?
If yes, from what sources was the said spyware purchased, what was the amount paid for the said purchase and to which budget head was it debited in the records of the acquiring agency?
Under whose authority, direction was it used against lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and politicians?
The personal information, data and records which were accessed by the operators of the same.
The law which authorized the use of the spyware against me and what is the record of authorizing the use of the said spyware against me and my colleagues.

Apple files lawsuit against Pegasus-creator NSO Group, says US citizens were targets  https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/apple-files-lawsuit-against-nso-group-7638259/

Apple alleged that NSO Group created more than 100 fake Apple ID user credentials to carry out its attacks. Apple said that its servers were not hacked, but that NSO misused and manipulated the servers to deliver the attacks on Apple users.  Apple also alleged that NSO Group was directly involved in providing consulting services for the attacks, which is noteworthy because NSO has maintained that it sells its tools to clients.

Israeli spyware company NSO Group placed on US blacklist https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/03/nso-group-pegasus-spyware-us-blacklist  3 Nov 2021

Decision against company at heart of Pegasus project reflects deep concern about impact of spyware on US national security interests.
“Today’s action is a part of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to put human rights at the center of US foreign policy, including by working to stem the proliferation of digital tools used for repression,” the commerce department said in a statement.

In effect, it means that NSO will be barred from buying parts and components from US companies without a special licence. It also puts a cloud over the sale of the company’s software globally, including in the US.

The commerce department said that “investigative information” had shown NSO and another Israeli surveillance company called Candiru had developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to “maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers”.