In June last year, one of my colleagues at Amnesty International received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. It contained details about a protest supposedly taking place at the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, and my colleague was instantly suspicious. The message came at a time when Amnesty International was campaigning for the release of six jailed activists in Saudi Arabia, and something didn’t feel right.
Like many previously documented attacks, the message sent to Amnesty had all the hallmarks of Pegasus, a dystopian piece of NSO software which can gain control of a phone’s keypad, camera and microphone. Pegasus was the tool used to track Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati human rights defender who is currently serving a ten-year jail sentence.
The Israeli MoD has ignored multiple requests from Amnesty and others to revoke the company’s license, which is why we’re providing evidence in this legal action.
Didn’t Trump got rid of our cyber tech?