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Israel’s NSO: the business of spying on your iPhone

25 points by olivermarks 7y ago

olivermarks 7y ago
https://twitter.com/FT/status/1128148984143470592 https://twitter.com/FT/status/1128148984143470592 readable via here
olliej 7y ago
NSO is fundamentally an unethical organisation. Ignoring their deliberate targeting via “detectives” and their attempts to create an anti-Israel story, they willingly sell goods to countries that are known to violate human rights. We know this because the same customers have repeatedly been caught using their software to deliberately attack human rights workers.
elipsey 7y ago
It's hard to actually read the article, but the gist of it seems to be that firms are using regulatory arbitrage to sell hacking services to foreigners. It seems inevitable that some jurisdictions will allow this sort of thing. I'm curious about whether anyone in the US is allowed to hire outfits like this, and what happens if they get caught. Is it ever legal for me to hire a hacking service that does things that are illegal for me to do? What, if anything, can US citizens do to become authorized to do similar things domestically? US security contractors sort of seem like have more leeway then I do, but maybe they just have LLCs and good lawyers? An understanding of this part of the business environment should inform our security assumptions. Does anyone know more about the rules for this kind of stuff?
- olivermarks 7y ago
  'NSO has been selling the ability to hack mobile phones in any part of the world — most recently using WhatsApp — with geographical software limitations decided by the Israeli government, according to a person familiar with the company. That means that a spy agency in one country can theoretically hack phones well outside their jurisdiction'
  - olliej 7y ago
    Yup! We know their software was being used (in the case of pegasus) against human rights activists in the UAE. We know that they literally sent disguised detectives to "interview" human rights activists and security researches at Citizen Lab in Canada (U of Toronto). I can't imagine working for a company like this.

25 points by olivermarks 7y ago

https://twitter.com/FT/status/1128148984143470592 https://twitter.com/FT/status/1128148984143470592 readable via here

NSO is fundamentally an unethical organisation. Ignoring their deliberate targeting via “detectives” and their attempts to create an anti-Israel story, they willingly sell goods to countries that are known to violate human rights. We know this because the same customers have repeatedly been caught using their software to deliberately attack human rights workers.

elipsey 7y ago

It's hard to actually read the article, but the gist of it seems to be that firms are using regulatory arbitrage to sell hacking services to foreigners. It seems inevitable that some jurisdictions will allow this sort of thing. I'm curious about whether anyone in the US is allowed to hire outfits like this, and what happens if they get caught. Is it ever legal for me to hire a hacking service that does things that are illegal for me to do? What, if anything, can US citizens do to become authorized to do similar things domestically? US security contractors sort of seem like have more leeway then I do, but maybe they just have LLCs and good lawyers? An understanding of this part of the business environment should inform our security assumptions. Does anyone know more about the rules for this kind of stuff?

olivermarks 7y ago
'NSO has been selling the ability to hack mobile phones in any part of the world — most recently using WhatsApp — with geographical software limitations decided by the Israeli government, according to a person familiar with the company. That means that a spy agency in one country can theoretically hack phones well outside their jurisdiction'
- olliej 7y ago
  Yup! We know their software was being used (in the case of pegasus) against human rights activists in the UAE. We know that they literally sent disguised detectives to "interview" human rights activists and security researches at Citizen Lab in Canada (U of Toronto). I can't imagine working for a company like this.