[ad_1]
Edward Snowden said Tuesday that a software from the Israeli company NSO Group Technologies had been used to track down Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, killed last month at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Snowden, a former US intelligence contractor, gained international visibility after leaked media reports to US media in 2013. He spoke Tuesday at a conference in Tel Aviv via a live video link.
>> Revealed: Israel's cyberespion industry helps world dictators hunt dissidents and homobaduals
The claim that Israeli spyware was used against Saudi dissidents was first reported by the Canadian research institute Citizen Lab in October. According to the report, NSO Pegasus spyware was installed on the phone of Omar Abdulaziz, another exiled Saudi dissident and a friend of Khashoggi. Abdulaziz said he used his mobile phone to discuss Saudi politics and plan joint projects with Khashoggi in the months leading up to the badbadination of Khashoggi. Abdulaziz says his phone was monitored at the time.
"Some of you may have heard about Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi," Snowden said. He entered the [Saudi] consulate and he was immediately strangled … how was it planned, how did it happen …?
The Saudis, he added, "knew that he was going to the consulate because he had made an appointment … but how did they know what his plans and intentions were, how had they decided that there was someone to whom to address, who was worth the risk? "
Snowden then suggested that the Saudis could get information about Khashoggi by spying on "his friend, also exiled to Canada".
"The reality is that they have developed one of his few friends and contacts with the help of software created by an Israeli company.We do not know the chain of consequences because this company does not will never comment on this, but it's one of the main stories not to be written about, "Snowden added.
>> Analysis: Israeli lovers bailing out Saudi Crown Prince as next round of Netanyahu's tour of Gulf tour takes shape
As stated on the Hebrew website of the business daily Globes, the ONS responded to the allegations as follows:
"Not only is the company working in compliance with military export laws, it is also the only company in the world with an independent ethics committee composed of external experts trained in law and in international relations, in order to prevent its products are not misused and, contrary to what has been reported in the press, the company does not sell them and does not allow their use in a large number of NSO is helping save thousands of lives every day from the hands of terrorists, drug barons, kidnappers, pedophiles and others. "
Pegasus allows for virtually unlimited surveillance of individuals, including taking control of cell phones. Its capabilities include gathering information about the phone's location, wiretapping, recording conversations taking place near the phone and photographing those near the phone.
>> Analysis: The Dark Side of Israeli Technology: Six Take the Sale of the NSO Cyber Attack Firm
Spyware also allows people in charge of surveillance to read and write text messages and e-mails on the phone, download applications and use existing applications on the phone. In addition, the software can access photos, video clips, calendar reminders and contact lists. Access is usually obtained via an infected link that is sent via a text message to the phone.
Snowden described NSO as a company "developing digital burglary tools" and described it as "worst of the worst in terms of selling these burglary tools that are actively used to violate the rights of the client." man".
Snowden then criticized Israel's high-tech sector, which it says bears no responsibility for how Israel's surveillance systems are used around the world. The former US intelligence service provider also suggested that companies rely too much on the explanation that they would sell the software to governments and law enforcement agencies to whom it would rely. should be able to trust. Too often, Israeli companies do not know what their products are used for, he said.
"This is not a cybersecurity industry – it's a cyber-insecurity industry," Snowden said.
Recent lawsuits have been filed in Israel and Cyprus against NSO and another Israeli-run company, called Circles, by a number of Mexican citizens, including journalists and political activists, as well as a Qatari citizen. The complainants claim to have been targeted by the business surveillance tools.
[ad_2]
Source link
