The United States government is an active client of the Israeli company NSO Group, known for its infamous Pegasus spy software. That reports the New York Times.
According to the report Washington, through a front company, purchased “Landmark” software from NSO Group, a geolocation system that determines a person’s exact location by entering their phone number. The revelation comes just days after US President Joe Biden signed an executive order restricting the use of commercial spy software by US intelligence and other federal agencies. The ban applies to “operational” applications that pose a “risk” to US national security.
Front company deal with odd timing
According to the New York Times, the US government purchased NSO Group’s geolocation software on November 8, 2021 through a New Jersey front company called Cleopatra Holdings, which is actually a small New Jersey-based government contractor called Riva Networks. Riva Networks had used the FBI to purchase Pegasus spy software two years earlier. When signing the 2021 contract, Riva’s chief executive used a fake name, according to the newspaper. But the timing was also exceptional.
Because just five days earlier, the Biden government had imposed sanctions on the NSO Group. In particular, the company’s Pegasus spy software had been misused for years by governments around the world to spy on political dissidents, human rights activists and journalists. In addition to Mexico, numerous other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates have used Israeli spyware for political surveillance. According to the FBI, it bought Pegasus for research purposes. According to internal documents, Pegasus was about to be deployed by the FBI. In early November 2021, the White House blacklisted NSO from the Department of Commerce, declared the company a national security threat, and sent the message that U.S. companies should not do business with it.
So the secret contract was signed despite the well-known issue of cooperation with NSO and not only violates the public policy of the Biden administration, but also appears to be still active, writes the New York Times.
Potent geolocation software
As part of the deal, NSO Group gave the US government access to one of its most powerful weapons – a geolocation tool called Landmark. While Pegasus is malware that gets injected into the target person’s cell phone and allows the operator to hack the phone, access all information stored on it, read encrypted messages and secretly turn on both the camera and microphone , Landmark allows surreptitious tracking of cell phones around the world without the knowledge or consent of the phone user. The New York Times report is the first known publication of the “Landmark” name.
The contract, seen by the New Times, said the “United States government” would be the end user of the tool, although it’s unclear which government agency authorized the deal and might be using the spy software. The agreement expressly allowed the government to “test, evaluate and even use the spyware against targets of their choice in Mexico.” The New York Times also claims that the system was sold to Saudi Arabia and used by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against dissidents.
A Biden administration official told the paper that the White House was not aware of the treaty and that if it existed, it would violate President Biden’s recently issued executive order.
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