Pegasus spyware row: the secret dots that connect Hindutva and Zionist fascists https://www.peoplesreview.in/politics/2021/07/pegasus-spyware-row-the-secret-dots-that-connect-hindutva-and-zionist-fascists/
Sat, Jul 24 2021 Tanmoy Ibrahim
The NSO’s “customers” and Pegasus spyware licensing
The OSY Technologies s.a.r.l, NSO Group’s subsidiary, had a legal audit done by a law firm in the wake of the 2019 controversy around the spyware being used through the WhatsApp messenger. The report stated that the “Human Rights Policy and attendant governance documents” of the OSY Technologies s.a.r.l and its subsidiaries are in sync with the “United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”.
This report stated:
“We license our products only to vetted and legitimate government agencies for the sole and exclusive use in preventing and investigating serious crime, including terrorism. We never use or participate in the use of our products and we have no access to personal data used in or generated from their use… We do not operate our products ourselves or on behalf of our customers; our role is limited to the provision of technical support and maintenance services to our customers. (sic)”
This means, to hack a phone and continue with snooping, the government agency must operate the Pegasus spyware itself and deploy it. In that case, it will have to first get a license to use the application, which is granted by NSO only after the Ministry of Defense approves such a deal. .. the “MoU on Cyber Security Cooperation between India and Israel” states that it “also envisages collaborating in the field of cyber security resilience…”, ...a category in which NSO group’s Pegasus spyware fits well.