NSO Group’s flagship malware, called Pegasus,
allows spies to effectively take control of
a phone — remotely and surreptitiously
controlling its cameras and microphones from
remote servers and vacuuming up personal and
geolocation data.
A European private equity firm, Novalpina Capital
LLP, bought a majority stake in NSO Group in
February. It claimed in a May statement that
“highly targeted interception technologies” of
the kind NSO Group produces “play a critical role
in protecting the public” and can do so without
undermining privacy rights or free speech.