US Adds Israeli Company NSO to Blacklist

Washington said on Wednesday it had added NSO Group, the Israeli company that manufactures Pegasus spy software, to its list of banned companies because they pose a threat to US national security; a decision denounced in Tel Aviv.

NSO found itself exposed this summer after investigations published by a consortium of 17 international media outlets revealing that Pegasus allegedly allowed to spy on the numbers of journalists, politicians, activists or business leaders from different countries, including the president French Emmanuel Macron.

These computer programs “have allowed foreign governments to carry out repression beyond their borders (…) to silence any dissonant voice,” the US authorities said in a statement.

The Israeli group said it was “appalled” by the decision and intends to overturn it, said a spokesperson for the company based in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

According to him, NSO has a “rigorous ethical charter based on American values”.

Once installed in a mobile phone, Pegasus allows to spy on its user, accessing their messaging, data, or activating the device remotely to capture sound or image.

“The United States is determined to use export controls in an incisive manner to hold accountable companies that develop, commercialize or use technologies for malicious purposes, which threaten the cybersecurity of members of civil society or government, dissidents, and organizations based here and abroad, ”Minister Gina Raimondo said.