[An Israeli company enabled the hacking of American citizens’
phones – possibly including some belonging to government officials.
] [[link removed]]

ISRAELI SPYWARE TARGETED AMERICANS  
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Asa Winstanley
November 6, 2019
The Electronic Intifada
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_ An Israeli company enabled the hacking of American citizens’
phones – possibly including some belonging to government officials.
_

NSO hijacked hundreds of smartphones via a security vulnerability in
WhatsApp. , Tim Reckmann/Flickr

 

The NSO Group’s [[link removed]] spy
software used a security vulnerability in WhatsApp to hijack the
phones of at least 1,400 people in the spring, a _Reuters_ report
revealed
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on Thursday.

The news agency spoke to sources familiar with an internal WhatsApp
investigation into the breach.

The targets were spread across more than 20 countries, many of them US
allies, _Reuters_ reported.

Their sources stated that a “significant” number of the known
victims were high-profile government and military officials.

Some of the victims are in the United States, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain, Mexico, Pakistan and India, according to
_Reuters_’ sources.

But the news agency stated it “could not verify whether the
government officials were from those countries or elsewhere.”

WhatsApp

WhatsApp – a smartphone messaging service owned by Facebook –
first revealed the attack
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soon after it patched up the vulnerability in May.

The spyware, named Pegasus
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sophisticated and dangerous cyberweapon
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which allows its operator to essentially hijack entire smartphones –
not only WhatsApp.

A now-fixed
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security flaw in WhatsApp was the point of infection.

The spyware’s controllers can steal contact lists, passwords, text
messages and listen in on phone calls.

Pegasus even gives snoopers the ability to switch on the phone’s
camera and microphone, effectively turning it into a weapon against
its owner.

Hacking

It has been known for some years
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now that NSO Group and other Israeli cyberwarfare mercenaries have
allowed and enabled the targeting of human rights defenders
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journalists
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and politicians
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around the world.

But this latest report last week shows that Americans too are being
targeted by whoever NSO is selling its multi-million-dollar software
to.

WhatsApp filed a lawsuit in California last week against NSO, and the
internal report seen by the _Reuters_ sources is seemingly part of
that case.

According to Canadian
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cyber security organization Citizen Lab
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“over 100 cases of abusive targeting of human rights defenders and
journalists.”

Although NSO has in the past defended its actions claiming its
products are meant to help only legitimate governments catch criminals
and “terrorists,” the internal WhatsApp investigation reportedly
shows that that is untrue.

“Prior to notifying victims,” _Reuters_ reported, “WhatsApp
checked the target list against existing law enforcement requests for
information relating to criminal investigations, such as terrorism or
child exploitation cases.”

According to _Reuters’_ sources, not a single one of those targeted
was an alleged criminal or terrorist.

Similar to other internet firms, WhatsApp maintains an online portal
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government law enforcement agencies can request information on its
users.

_Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist and associate editor
with The Electronic Intifada. He lives in London. Biography here
[[link removed]]. _

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