Hypocritical to say we can sell tanks, drones but not spyware: NSO chief

Israels embattled cyber tech company NSO Group has denied wrongdoing as it called criticism of its sale of Pegasus spyware programme to nondemocratic countries hypocritical comparing the surveillance technology to military weapons systems being sold by others amid mounting allegations that software was misused globally including in IsraelAn undeterred Chief Executive Officer of NSO Group Shalev Hulio in an interview to Israeli Channel 12 on Saturday strongly defended the companys operations though he also conceded that some mistakes may have happened over the yearsI absolutely sleep soundly at nightrdquo Hulio told the Channels interviewer when asked if he can do so amid so much worldwide criticismHulios interview came a day after a New York Times report on Friday claimed that India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 triggering a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to treasonThere is not one country weve sold to not one that the US does not sell to or that Israel doesnt sell to So its a bit hypocritical to say its okay to sell F35s and tanks and drones but its not okay to sell a tool that collects intelligencerdquo Hulio said defending the companys positionHe also pointed out that out of almost 90 clients that turned to them for the technology they sold only to around 40 as per laid down normsIn reaction to the blacklisting of the company by the US Department of Commerce in November the companys senior most executive called it an outrage that he hopes will be lifted soonOur technology has over the years helped the interests and national security of the United States quite a bitrdquo he claimed ldquoI think the fact that a company like NSO is on a US blacklist is an outrage Im sure well be taken off that list I have no doubtrdquoThe NSO Group and its controversial Pegasus technology which has grabbed attention of governments and people worldwide with allegations of misuse in India as well was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce for acting ldquocontrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the USrdquo last year in NovemberIsrael distanced itself from the controversy triggered by the blacklisting of the NSO Group after allegations of illegal use of its Pegasus spyware to target government officials activists and journalists globally saying it is a private company and it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli governmentIn India a row had erupted last year over Pegasus allegedly being used for targeted surveillance An international investigative consortium had claimed that many Indian ministers politicians activists businessmen and journalists were potentially targeted by the softwareThe Indian government however had dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific peopleLast October the Indian Supreme Court set up a threemember independent expert panel to probe the alleged use of Pegasus for targeted surveillance in India observing the state cannot get a free pass every time the spectre of national security is raised and that its mere invocation cannot render the judiciary a mute spectator and be the bugbear it shies away fromIn his interview Hulio also denied that Pegasus was used to hack the phone of French President Emmanuel Macron He also denied any link between the companys products and the killing of dissent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Gulf Kingdoms consulate in Istanbul TurkeyIts become something of a national pastime to blame anything that happens on NSO A large part of the reports are simply untrue are prejudiced and it certainly sometimes angers me and sometimes frustrates But in the end we know the truthrdquo the CEO assertedWhen asked if the NSO Group has made mistakes since its establishment he said that ldquoover a period of 12 years its impossible not to make mistakes which you learn fromrdquo without sharing any detailsHowever he also justified the presence of such a technology that can help prevent acts of terror and other serious crimesOn the recent reports that the Israeli police used Pegasus to spy on civilians including antiBenjamin Netanyahu protesters and Israelis not suspected of any crimes his answer was that he would like to think that they are untrueldquoI as a citizen if the things that were written are true it worries me personally But as a citizen I tell you I choose to believe the attorney general the public security minister and the police chief who say time and again these things never happenedrdquo Hulio respondedWith controversies surrounding the company refusing to die down Israeli Attorney Genera Avichai Mendelbit in January announced to set up a team to probe into alleged misuse of the snooping Pegasus technology by the Israeli police against its own citizens including those not suspected of crimeIsrael established a committee in July last year to review the allegations of misuse of the NSO groups surveillance software and hinted at a possible review of the whole matter of giving licencesHulio had welcomed the move saying they would ldquobe very pleased if there were an investigation so that wed be able to clear our namerdquoHe had also claimed that there was an effort ldquoto smear the whole Israeli cyber industryThe NSO executive had also emphasised that his company could not disclose the details of its contracts due to ldquoissues of confidentialityrdquo but he would offer full transparency to any government seeking more detailsLet any state entity come along any official from any state and Ill be prepared to open everything up to them for them to enter to dig around from top to bottomrdquo Hulio then saidIsraels defence ministry had in a statement also threatened that if it finds that the NSO Group violated the terms of its export licenses it will ldquotake appropriate actionrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed 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