How technology used to spy on Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi before his assassination happened

(Video: "60 minutes" / CBS)

It has been described as one of the most sophisticated spyware ever created. Her name is Pegasus and it's an advanced software made by the Israeli company NSO Group, which claims to sell it exclusively to governments to fight terrorism and drug trafficking.

Software infiltrates smartphones via a text message with a link to reveal calls, emails, text messages and contacts, and you can even turn on the microphone and the camera to listen and see the user without having to. he does not perceive it.

But its use raises more and more ethical issues and growing fears of abuse. Focus on one goal, for example, the authorities often infect the phones of the innocent people around them, as members of the family. It has recently been reported that the Mexican authorities had used Pegasus to capture the pivot of the drug.Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán infiltrate the phones of some of the people he spoke to while he was in jail.

Another fear of cyber security activists and experts is that Pegasus is acquired by governments and organizations whose purpose is not the fight against terrorism or crime, but spy on and prosecute opponents and dissidents. This fear became more concrete after the revelation of several cases of espionage – mainly in Mexico – in which the software had been used against activists and opponents.

Although the case that had the most impact involves Omar Abdulaziz, an influential Saudi dissident who was in contact with the journalist Jamal Khashoggi before his badbadination at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. Abdulaziz sues NSO alleging that Saudis have used Pegaso to hack their phoneand therefore spy on the target.

However, the co-founder and CEO of the company Shalev Hulio insured during an interview with the program CBS "60 Minutes" that these fears are unfounded.

"We are helping to create a safer world," he affirmed. And about the killing of Khashoggi, he says: "It's really horrible. When I heard for the first time that there were accusations that our technology would have been used against Jamal Khashoggi or his relatives, I started doing an immediate check. And I can tell you very clearly that we had nothing to do with this horrible murder. "

What is certain is that Pegasus is such a sensitive espionage tool that before any sale, the NSO must obtain the approval of the Israeli Defense Ministry. as if it 's been a sale of arms.

"I'm just saying we're selling Pegasus to prevent crime and terror," Hulio said. The businessman says that the program has helped save "Tens of thousands of people."

He also rejected the use of Pegasus by governments who regard the opposition as "terrorist".

"Every customer we sold has a very clear definition of what is terrorism"Hulio said. "There are more than 100 countries where we will never sell our technologies"he badured.

In addition, stated that the NSO may request data from its clients to investigate any allegations of abuse, although you can not see before what are the goals of espionage.

"In the last eight years, we have only had three real cases of abuse," he said in "60 minutes." "Of the thousands of cases in which lives were saved, three were abuses and people or organizations who abuse the system are no longer customers and will never be customers again. "

However, Citizen Lab, a human rights organization of the University of Toronto, says that he could only find 25 cases of abuse that happened in Mexico, where Pegasus was used to attacking political rivals, journalists and civil rights lawyers. They also said they found the Pegasus link on the phone of a human rights activist in the UAE.

"If we discover that someone is abusing the system, we will close it immediately," Hulio said. "We have the right to do it and we have the technology to do it."

"This is not a mbad surveillance technology", said Tami Shachar, co-chair of the NSO. "It's really for the bin Laden of the world."