NSO Group fires its CEO and 100 employees

NSO Group, the Israeli company responsible for the infamous Pegasus spyware, has announced a reorganization that includes the departure of its CEO and co-founder, Shalev Hulio’s, and the dismissal of at least 100 employees. Current COO Yaron Shohat will serve as chief executive officer until the board of directors appoints a new CEO.

According to the announcement, NSO Group “will examine all aspects of its business, including streamlining its operations to ensure the company remains one of the world’s leading high-tech cyber intelligence companies, with a focus on NATO member countries”.

The layoffs are a consequence of a unacceptable, illegal and immoral business behavior, which has systematically violated all privacy rights and has compromised rather than promoted security. His best-known development, Pegasus, is uncontrollable spyware that has been sold to anyone who could afford it regardless of the consequences.

Furthermore, the company has been aware that it has been used against thousands of citizens and companies that had nothing to do with terrorism and major crime, supposedly the two exclusive uses on which it had to work. You have to know that Pegasus, once infiltrated, take full control of the deviceespecially smartphones, is the best known and once installed on the victim’s mobile, it allows the attacker to have full access to the device’s messages, emails, media, microphone, camera, calls and contacts.

NSO Group: rise and fall

The US Department of Commerce blacklisted NSO Group for “evidence that this company developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments who used these tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businessmen, activists, academics, embassy employees, and others”.

It was the response to the publication of the conclusions of Project Pegasus, the largest study carried out on the scope of spyware and which confirmed all the allegations: “While the company claims that its spyware is only used for legitimate criminal and terrorist investigations, it is clear that its technology facilitates systemic abuse. They paint a picture of legitimacy, while profiting from widespread human rights violations.”.

And it is that NSO Group has been questioned by human rights groups such as Amnesty International for years, accusing it of selling its solutions to dictatorships that use them against political dissidents and as a means of censorship. The most shocking, though not unique, was its use against members of the family of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi before and after his murder in Istanbul. Pegasus has also been controversial for using exploits to break into Microsoft or Facebook products.

And that is only what has been proven. The investigation identified 50,000 targets between 2016 and June 2021, including world leaders, politicians, human rights activists, and at least 180 journalists from 20 countries, as potential targets of this spyware.

Clearly, the actions of Pegasus (known as NSO Group) raise questions about the total lack of regulation that has created a wild west of abusive and unbridled attacks against everything that moved on the Internet, with nothing to do with crime and terrorism. “Until this company and the industry as a whole can demonstrate that it is capable of respecting human rights, there must be an immediate moratorium on the export, sale, transfer and use of surveillance technology.”., requested the complainant groups.

As usual, under the umbrella of ‘security’ All kinds of misdeeds can be committed, illegal or unlawful, but they have always been there. “NSO Group paints a picture of legitimacy, while profiting from widespread human rights violations.” denounced Amnesty International. That is the key to the matter.