“Spending millions of dollars to line the pockets
of a company that is widely known to serially
facilitate widespread human rights abuses,
possible criminal acts, and operations that
threaten the U.S.’s own national security is
definitely troubling,” said Ron Deibert, director
of Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto internet
watchdog that has exposed dozens of Pegasus
hacks since 2016.
“At the very least, this seems like a terribly
counterproductive, irresponsible, and ill-
conceived way” to keep abreast of surveillance
tech, he added.
An FBI spokesperson did not say what the
agency paid NSO Group or when, but The New
York Times reported last week that it obtained a
one-year license for $5 million, testing it in 2019.
On Wednesday, The Guardian quoted a source
familiar with the deal as saying the FBI paid $
million to renew the license but never used the
spyware, which infiltrates a target’s smart phone,
granting access to all its communications and
location data and converting it into a remote
eavesdropping device.
In November, the U.S. Commerce Department
blacklisted NSO Group, barring it from access
to U.S. technology. Apple subsequently
sued the company, calling it “amoral 21st
century mercenaries.”
NSO Group has said Pegasus is programmed not
to target phones with the +1 U.S. country code,
but American citizens living abroad have been
among its victims.
Deibert, of Citizen Lab, called for a congressional
investigation. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said
in a statement that the U.S. public deserves