A prototype of NSO's Pegasus for Israeli police in 2014 reveals the UI and features, including real-time wiretapping, reading texts, and remote camera control
Haaretz's Omer Benjakob has surfaced a 2014 prototype of Pegasus built for the Israeli police, showing that the tool's core capabilities — real-time wiretapping, message reading, remote camera control — were already packaged for domestic law enforcement eight years ago. That timeline matters because reporting earlier this year found Israeli police used Pegasus to monitor citizens, mayors, protesters, and former government employees without warrants or court oversight.
The prototype also lands while NSO is under an official Israeli government investigation into abuse allegations opened at its Tel Aviv office in 2021, and after investigations traced Pegasus deployments by the CIA, UAE, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia across a widening list of states. Documenting what the police version could do from the start turns the domestic-use scandal from an allegation about misuse into a question about design intent.
First-order effects
The 2014 prototype gives investigators and journalists concrete evidence that warrant-free surveillance capability was baked into the police offering from its earliest form, sharpening the case against both NSO and the Israeli police as the government probe continues.
NSO faces compounded reputational damage at a moment when reporting indicates severe financial troubles, making each disclosure harder to absorb commercially.
Second-order effects
Foreign government customers — Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office among them, which confirmed buying Pegasus in 2019 — face renewed domestic scrutiny over whether their own deployments carry the same warrantless-use risk now documented in Israel.
Rival spyware vendors will be pushed to differentiate on oversight features like audit logs and court-authorization gating, as buyers' procurement criteria shift from raw capability to demonstrable compliance.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds — capability sold to police before legal guardrails exist — commercial spyware becomes standard domestic policing infrastructure, forcing regulators to build warrant and audit requirements into procurement rather than relying on vendor self-restraint.
Sustained disclosures of this kind point toward export-control regimes treating surveillance software like arms, with licensing tied to verifiable end-use limits.
The trend: Commercial spyware is migrating from a foreign-intelligence niche to routine domestic policing faster than the legal frameworks governing its use are being built.
SCOOP We got our hands on screen shots of an early prototype of Pegasus, called Syaphan and intended for use by the Israeli police These photos are the closest we've gotten to seeing real working Pegasus system THREAD @JoshBreiner @haaretzcom https://www.haaretz.com/... https://t…
I think it is the first time some photos from the Pegasus spyware have ended up in the public eye. @JoshBreiner @omerbenj https://www.haaretz.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Sources I spoke to me say the current version of Pegasus does not look EXACTLY like this but is extremely similar in terms of its menus, functions and interface style (though the colors are different now) @JoshBreiner @haaretzcom https://www.haaretz.com/...
These photos are the closest we've gotten to seeing real working Pegasus system, that strain of spyware that's been going around infecting journalists and activists. Follow our tech reporter @omerbenj down the rabbit hole 🔻🔻🔻 https://twitter.com/...
Important and eye-opening investigation into the genesis of #Pegasus. Yet another reminder that we cannot discuss Israeli spyware companies, such as NSO Group, without examining the entire surveillance pipeline. https://twitter.com/...
It demonstrates Pegasus tapping calls, eavesdropping in realtime by remotely turning on the cellphone mic+cam, full access to encrypted messaging apps, contacts and files and more. by @JoshBreiner @omerbenj https://www.haaretz.com/... https://twitter.com/...
An interesting, rare look at what Pegasus used to look like from an operator's point of view, in this case Israeli police. Seems in line with previously leaked screenshots and existing reporting, like @kimzetter's timeless deep-dive on how Pegasus works: https://zetter.substack.c…
NEW: Reporters from @haaretzcom just got screenshots a #Pegasus spyware prototype. Same look & feel to screenshots from early Pegasus manuals. THREAD 👇👇 https://twitter.com/...
EXCLUSIVE: Here's what Israeli Police's Pegasus prototype looked like, as presented by the SIGINT division to top security officials in 2014/5 by @JoshBreiner @omerbenj https://www.haaretz.com/...
This early prototype of a Pegasus-like system also allows remote recording - not just live interception of calls but actually turning the phone into a recording device @JoshBreiner @haaretzcom https://www.haaretz.com/... https://twitter.com/...
As one source told me: “Israel is the ONLY country in the world that export regulations don't apply to. Offensive cyber firms can sell Israel anything and everything, not just tech but also services” @JoshBreiner @haaretzcom https://www.haaretz.com/...
They bear all the hallmarks of what we'd expect from a mobile tactical interception system: for example access to call logs and messages - including those from encrypted apps like WhatsApp @JoshBreiner @haaretzcom https://www.haaretz.com/... https://twitter.com/...