Microsoft declares war on Israeli surveillance company NSO Group

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Content source

https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-declares-war-on-israeli-surveillance-company-nso-group

Back in 2019, Israeli technology company NSO Group found itself embroiled in controversy when it was alleged that its Pegasus program was used to hack WhatsApp. The sophisticated attack technique allowed attackers to inject spyware into Android and iOS devices by simply calling them. The victim is not even required to attend the call in order for the attack to be successful.

While WhatsApp plugged the vulnerability, it later took NSO Group to court for its malicious actions. The surveillance company has denied wrongdoing multiple times using the defense of immunity since it claims that Pegasus is used on behalf of governments. Following recent reports of Al Jazeera journalists being hacked using software developed by NSO Group, Microsoft and various other corporations have now joined the fight against the Israeli firm.

Microsoft has highlighted that Pegasus infected WhatsApp on 1,400 devices last year, including those of journalists and prominent figures fighting against human rights violations. It emphasized that NSO Group's business model is very dangerous for a number of reasons. Primarily, there is no guarantee that the cyber-weapons won't fall into the wrong hands. Even if NSO Group sells Pegasus only to governments, it could be handed over to customers who lack proper defenses, resulting in highly dangerous software being stolen. Microsoft also stated that:

[...] private-sector companies creating these weapons are not subject to the same constraints as governments. Many governments with offensive cyber capabilities are subject to international laws, diplomatic consequences and the need to protect their own citizens and economic interests from the indiscriminate use of these weapons. Additionally, some governments – like the United States – may share high-consequence vulnerabilities they discover with impacted technology providers so the providers can patch the vulnerability and protect their customers. Private actors like the NSO Group are only incented to keep these vulnerabilities to themselves so they can profit from them, and the exploits they create are constantly recycled by governments and cybercriminals once they get into the wild.

Lastly, the Redmond tech giant emphasized that such tools developed by private security firms are a threat to human rights and privacy. It stated that NSO Group's clients are spread throughout the world, and they utilize cyber weapons to track journalists and other opposing groups. Microsoft indicated that even if NSO Group's own intention is not to violate human rights, its tools certainly allow its clients to do so.

Moving forward, Microsoft has urged that private security firms such as NSO Group should be liable for any laws that are broken by using their tools, and they should not be granted immunity in any circumstances. The coalition hopes that the amicus brief will enable it to protect the rights and privacy of all its global customers.

Microsoft Blog post:

Cyber mercenaries don’t deserve immunity - Microsoft On the Issues

A growing industry of companies called private-sector offensive actors – or PSOAs – is creating and selling cyberweapons that enable their customers to break into people’s computers, phones and internet-connected devices. Now, one of these 21st-century mercenaries, called the NSO Group, is...

blogs.microsoft.com

 

[oldschool]

I'm all in on this one for reasons stated in post and due to political considerations, which forum rules prohibit discussing. Go M$!

 

[Eggnog]

Who isn't up for a good fight now and again?

 

[Ink]

Three dozen journalists had their iPhones hacked in July and August using what at the time was an iMessage zero-day exploit that didn’t require the victims to take any action to be infected, researchers said.

The exploit and the payload it installed were developed and sold by NSO Group, according to a report published Sunday by Citizen Lab, a group at the University of Toronto that researches and exposes hacks on dissidents and journalists. NSO is a maker of offensive hacking tools that has come under fire over the past few years for selling its products to groups and governments with poor human rights records.

Zero-click iMessage zero-day used to hack the iPhones of 36 journalists

Malicious messages installed spyware that recorded audio and pics and stole passwords.

arstechnica.com