[HN Gopher] WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its s...
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       WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code
        
       Author : Tomte
       Score  : 65 points
       Date   : 2024-03-01 21:02 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
        
       | rdtsc wrote:
       | > Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the
       | lawsuit, "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that
       | blanket request was denied.
       | 
       | Interesting approach. The court could probably care less about
       | Israeli restrictions as it's a different country.
       | 
       | Officially US govt blacklisted Pegasus
       | https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/us-blacklists-ma....
       | However, I wouldn't be surprised if some US spy agencies are
       | still using it. If that's the case, Pegasus might try asking US
       | intel agencies to block the case on the basis of disclose of
       | classified info or harming national interests.
       | 
       | It would be interesting to see if all of the sudden "something
       | happens" and the case is mysteriously dropped.
        
         | ethbr1 wrote:
         | I doubt US spy agencies still use it in any official capacity.
         | 
         | Far easier to just request and obtain the resulting
         | intelligence from partner intelligence organizations who _are_
         | using it.
         | 
         | Arms-length collection is less legally perilous.
         | 
         | But which does bode poorly for any assertion of national
         | security in US courts! "Are you using this software?"
         | "Officially, no." "Then on what basis do you claim national
         | security?"
        
           | cheeze wrote:
           | I don't know much in this space, but if I'm the US Gov I'm
           | happy that all of the attention is on Pegasus and not other
           | (presumably) tens (hundreds) of similar programs out there.
        
       | lupire wrote:
       | Is this a new precedent, that "legal" hackers that operate in two
       | countries can be forced to divulge their vulns?
        
       | cedws wrote:
       | I don't understand why the NSO Group, and by extension Israel,
       | has not been sanctioned over this spyware. It's a dangerous
       | company that sells tools ripe for abuse to some of the West's
       | worst anti-democractic enemies.
        
         | devwastaken wrote:
         | Peace and "defense" are marketing. Eisenhower warned of the
         | military industrial complex and it's growing power.
         | 
         | It's mainly not "the wests" enemies contracting NSO, it is the
         | west.
        
         | roywiggins wrote:
         | They have been:
         | 
         | https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-adds-foreign-compani...
        
       | jokoon wrote:
       | This is why I don't want to work in cyber security.
       | 
       | You are dealing with dangerous people.
        
       | troyvit wrote:
       | I for one look forward to the new functionality our Meta
       | overlords will add to WhatsApp once they've learned some new
       | tricks from NSO.
        
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       (page generated 2024-03-01 23:00 UTC)