NSO Group Must Take Accountability for Its Spyware Infiltration

July 18, 2021

In this July 3, 2020, file photo, Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, talks to members of the media in Istanbul. Amnesty International reported that its forensic researchers had determined that NSO Group's flagship Pegasus spyware was successfully installed on the phone of Cengiz, just four days after Khashoggi was killed. Emrah Gurel–AP

Cited article by Frank Bajak/AP, Time.com

HRRC's Response:

In an investigation by a global media consortium, it was discovered that the Israel-based NSO Group was illegally monitoring human rights activists and groups, journalists, and political dissidents around the world. Over 50,000 cellphone numbers were recovered through the software leak.

The Pegasus spyware "infiltrates phones to vacuum up personal and location data and surreptitiously control the smartphone’s microphones and cameras. In the case of journalists, that lets hackers spy on reporters’ communications with sources."

HRRC demands the NSO Group be held accountable for violating the right to privacy and endangering thousands of individuals' and groups' safety worldwide.