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                   FBI Purchased Now-Banned NSO Group Spyware

   Josh Centers

   The Pegasus spyware created by Israeli firm NSO Group was one of the
   top cybersecurity stories of 2021 after it was revealed the software
   had been used by governments against activists and journalists, leading
   to the company being blacklisted by the Biden administration and a
   lawsuit from Apple (see '[1]Apple Lawsuit Goes After Spyware Firm NSO
   Group,' 24 November 2021).

   Now an extensive [2]New York Times investigation reveals that the FBI
   purchased Pegasus in 2019 and spent years testing it before eventually
   deciding against its use. Also revealed is the fact the Israeli
   government maintains controls over who could license Pegasus from the
   NSO Group, entangling the spyware in global diplomacy. The moral of the
   story would seem to be that cyberweapons are now as much a bargaining
   token in global diplomacy as fighter jets were in the past. The
   difference is that we're all using the same devices as the criminals,
   terrorists, activists, journalists, and others targeted by government
   intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

   [3]Read original article

References

   1. https://tidbits.com/2021/11/24/apple-lawsuit-goes-after-spyware-firm-nso-group/
   2. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/world/middleeast/israel-pegasus-spyware.html
   3. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/magazine/nso-group-israel-spyware.html

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