Israeli authorities inspect offices of NSO Group

Spyware firms claims the inspection was just a 'visit', not a 'raid'

Israeli authorities have inspected the offices of NSO Group, following allegations that its Pegasus software was used to spy on hundreds of journalists, activists and politicians around the world.

In a tweet posted in Hebrew, the Israeli Defence Ministry stated that "representatives from a number of bodies" visited NSO Group to examine "the publications and allegations raised in its case."

The Israelie Defense Ministry regulates all military exports, including cybersecurity products. Private firms are required to receive approval prior to doing business abroad.

The Ministry did not specify which agencies were involved in the investigation, but local media has previously said that the justice ministry, foreign ministry, military intelligence and Mossad were looking into the firm following the allegations.

Calcalist, which was the first to cover the visit by Israeli authorities, described it as a 'raid,' though NSO Group claimed that it was just a 'visit'.

"We can confirm that representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Defense visited our offices. We welcome their inspection," an NSO spokesperson told Vice.

The spokesperson added that the company was "working in full transparency with the Israeli authorities".

"We are confident that this inspection will prove the facts are as declared repeatedly by the company against the false allegations made against us in the recent media attacks," the spokesperson said.

NSO Group chief executive Shalev Hulio confirmed to MIT Technology Review that officials had visited the company's office.

"That's true," he said.

"I believe it's very good that they are checking, since we know the truth and we know that the list never existed and is not related to NSO."

The "list" Hulio is referring to is a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers of interest in countries that are said to be clients of NSO Group. Several of the phones on the list were hacked, allegedly using NSO's Pegasus spyware.

Hulio said NSO wants the authorities to "check everything and make sure that the allegations are wrong".

An anonymous source told Calcalist that the Defence Ministry's visit was coordinated with NSO in advance, and that the officials did not closely check NSO's documents or systems.

Global scandal

On 18th July, Paris-based non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International published a post claiming that NSO Group's Pegasus spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 phones.

The report added that the tool may have been used to spy on more than 1,000 journalists, rights activists and other prominent individuals, from about 50 countries.

The allegations were based on the list of phone numbers mentioned above.

Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories, which first accessed the list, shared it with 17 international media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Guardian and Le Monde, as part of a collaborative investigation.

NSO has consistently denied any wrongdoing, saying its software helps law enforcement agencies to tackle terrorists and criminals and is sold only to countries with good human rights records.

Last week, the French government said it would question Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz, after it emerged that French president Emmanuel Macron's phone number also showed up on the leaked list.

NSO Group is not the only Israeli surveillance firm in the news recently.

Earlier this month, researchers from Citizen Lab and Microsoft claimed in separate reports that a secretive Israeli firm named Candiru, was developing powerful 'cyberweapons' and selling them to governments and authoritarian leaders.

The reports said that Candiru's clients used its tools to infect PCs, Macs, iPhones, Androids and cloud accounts, targeting more than 100 journalists, politicians, activists and dissidents in multiple countries.