Discussion

• @markmazzettinyt Mark Mazzetti on x

  NEW: Days after the White House in 2021 blacklisted NSO, the notorious Israeli hacking firm, a secret contract was signed for a hacking tool. The contract states that the USG is the user. A thread https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @dorisgomora Doris Gomora on x

  NSO Group-#Pegasus, gave the U.S. government access to a geolocation tool that can covertly track mobile phones around the world without the phone user's knowledge or consent. It specifically against targets of its choice in #Mexico. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @nytimes @nytimes on x

  The Biden administration has been trying to end the use of spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO. It turns out that not every part of the government got the message. A secret government contract violates the public policy, and still appears to be active. https://www.nytimes.com/..…

• @rondeibert @rondeibert on x

  The 🇺🇸 USG is comprised of *18* very large, well resourced, big budget intel agencies that explore, test, and procure many surveillance tools, products and services. I'd be more shocked if NSO & its various front companies *had not* made at least some deal, somewhere...

• @jonathandata1 Jonathan Scott on x

  Who is going to tell @nytimes that an SS7 monitoring tool is NOT a hacking tool? It does NOT hack into your device. https://twitter.com/...

• @marietjeschaake @marietjeschaake on x

  Painful investigation about the use of NSO's spyware by the US. The new Executive Order should make that impossible now, but only when enforcement is meaningful ↘️ https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @kimzetter Kim Zetter on x

  A front company in New Jersey signed the contract for the unknown gov agency. The company - “Cleopatra Holdings” - is actually Riva Networks, the same company the FBI used two years earlier to purchase Pegasus. https://twitter.com/...

• @evacide Eva on x

  Spyware for me but not for thee. https://twitter.com/...

• @arifcrafiq Arif Rafiq on x

  “...Novalpina had to address concern within American spy agencies that the tools posed a counterintelligence risk — that they might contain back doors that would allow Mossad or other Israeli intelligence services to gain access to American secrets....” https://www.nytimes.com/..…

• @kenroth Kenneth Roth on x

  The Biden administration banned any U.S. government use of highly intrusive spyware developed by the Israeli firm, NSO Group. The spyware has been used to hack the phones of dissidents and journalists. Some part of the US government didn't get the message. https://www.nytimes.com…

• @ericgeller Eric Geller on x

  Wow. “Asked about the contract, White House officials said it was news to them.” And ODNI wouldn't comment. Someone appears to be violating the rules here... Great reporting. https://twitter.com/...

• @avischarf Avi Scharf on x

  Under the NSO contract, U.S. officials had access to a special portal that let them to type in mobile phone numbers. The Landmark geolocation tool then pinpointed the phone's specific location at that moment without the phone user's knowledge. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @runasand Runa Sandvik on x

  New reporting by @ronenbergman and @MarkMazzettiNYT says the U.S. government purchased a surveillance tool from NSO called Landmark. The tool allows the operator to identify someone's location based on their phone number. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  “Landmark”, the product bought here, is not a hacking tool. It is a surveillance tool based on SS7 (see our coverage here https://www.vice.com/...). Sounds pedantic, but it's a key distinction when governments are clamping down on commercial spyware. Landmark is not that. https:/…

• @nicoleperlroth Nicole Perlroth on x

  As I wrote in my book, a lot of these sales take advantage of the siloed nature of US government. Most US agencies don't realize their neighbors have already paid for the same tool. Or in this case, the White House didn't know about this sale of NSO even as it restricted its sale

• @shibleytelhami Shibley Telhami on x

  Biden administration has been trying to choke off use of hacking tools made by Israeli firm NSO. It turns out that not every part of government has gotten message: A secret contract violates the administration's own policy, and still appears to be active. https://www.nytimes.com/…

• @avischarf Avi Scharf on x

  In Nov 2021, Biden admin blacklisted NSO. Days later, NSO's U.S. affiliate entered into contract with “Cleopatra Holdings” — Riva Networks — to give U.Sgov access to NSO's geolocation tool. Fake “Bill Malone” signed the deal. This is the address listed👇 https://www.nytimes.com/..…

• @nicoleperlroth Nicole Perlroth on x

  Read the whole story. These front companies and fake signatories are why it's so hard to track the flow of spyware and zero days to governments around the world. This reads like a map. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @cooperq @cooperq on x

  SS7 is the underpinning of our entire world wide phone system and it's a security nightmare. https://twitter.com/...