NSO Group

Additional Details

NSO Group is an Israeli cybersecurity and intelligence company, renowned worldwide for developing spyware and digital surveillance software. The company has faced widespread accusations from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Citizen Lab of using its software to track journalists, politicians, and human rights activists. NSO Group plays a direct and pivotal role in supporting the Israeli military and security services during the current war. Despite its private nature, it operates as an integral part of the Israeli national security apparatus. With the outbreak of the war, the company joined the technological operations rooms of the Israeli military and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The Pegasus software, or its derivatives, is used to gather real-time intelligence from the mobile phones of Palestinian faction members, providing the military with direct tactical targets. Most NSO employees and developers are former graduates of Unit 8200 (the Israeli military's cyber intelligence arm). At the start of the genocide, a significant number of the company's engineers were called up for active military service to operate and develop the army's cyber attack and espionage systems.