The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation into the NSO group, as there are suspicions that it is being used to collect data on American citizens and businesses.
NSO has been investigated in the past for similar cases, but now the FBI wants to know if the Israeli spywareplayed a role in cyberattacks carried out against residents and companies in the country.
In addition, the investigation wants to examine NSO's business activities and discover whether it was involved in the attacks carried out at the government level.
The NSO presents its surveillance software as products “that help government agencies prevent and investigate terrorism and crime to save thousands of lives worldwide”. However, the company's critics argue that many governments around the world exploit these products to monitor other governments, as well as their own citizens.
The company's Pegasus suite, for example, is a mobile malware that can monitor communication on Android and iOS, extract data, monitor video and audio messages, and compromise messaging systems such as WhatsApp, Twitter , and Skype.
WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against NSO last October after discovering that it had exploited a vulnerability in its app to launch attacks on hundreds of users in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.
NSO software has been linked in the past to attacks on government protesters, citizen rights mobilizations, lawyers, activists and diplomats.
Researchers at Citizen Lab published a report tracking the development of the Pegasus software, claiming it has been used in cyberattacks in 45 countries over the past years.
Recently, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezosclaimed that his smartphone was hacked through a malicious message sent during a conversation with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2018. The involvement of NSO software is suspected, but the company has denied any involvement.
