This NSO Group buzz shows no sign of decreasing.
BY:
Salvatore Nicci
Technology Analyst / Reporter
PROJECT COUNSEL MEDIA
26 April 2022 (Paris, France) – The New Scientist (yes, the New Scientist) published “UK Prime Minister’s Office Smartphones Targeted by Pegasus Spyware”. (The article was not behind the magazine pay wall when I wrote this). The main point of the write up is it seems to me:
Researchers claim to have uncovered cyber attacks using Pegasus software against 10 Downing Street and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Is this the government office about which Euronews said that UK prime minister Boris Johnson was fined over Downing Street lockdown partiers? It sure looks like it to me.
The New Scientist story recycles the Citizen Lab reports about someone using NSO Group technology to snoop on individuals in the British government. I don’t know if the research is on the money. But the University of Toronto’s interest in NSO Group was on the same subject – the ease on which to spy on (any) government.
Several observations:
• I am concerned that the recycling of information about NSO Group technology may have unintended consequences; for example, if I were a college computer science professor, I could envision asking students to check out the Pegasus software on GitHub and come up with similar functionality. But I am not a college prof yet there may be a professor in Estonia who comes up with a similar idea. But if you joined our cyber team’s off-the-floor tutorial at Legal Week in New York last month we showed you how GitHub is a treasure trove for software to hack anything.
• The idea that a scientific research publication is focusing attention on an Israeli firm whose software was used by a government illustrates how information leakage can slosh around. Is this a click decision or a political decision or an ethical decision? I have no idea, but someone made a decision to recycle the Citizen Lab story.
• Companies pay big money to get their “brand” in front of eyeballs. NSO Group is clearly the brand champion in the intelware sector. Winner? Well, maybe.
This NSO Group buzz shows no sign of decreasing.
