New Delhi: Following a series of reports that feature names of Indian and world leaders whose phones were allegedly targeted by the spyware Pegasus, developed by Israeli firm NSO, its founder has now said: “Somebody has to do the dirty work.”
In an interview with The Washington Post, Shalev Hulio, NSO CEO, talked about how the company came about and how it has saved many lives. What was initially a customer start-up service aimed at troubleshooting smartphones became one of the world’s most expensive cybersecurity companies after Israeli officials asked Hulio, and his partner Omri Lavie, to build a version of their technology for official use. Today, their company has 750 employees and is valued at over $1.5 billion.
As many question Pegasus’ use citing ethical grounds, Hulio is now defending his company and the work. “There is one thing I want to say: We built this company to save life. Period,” Hulio said. “I think there is not enough education about what a national security or intelligence organization needs to do every day in order to give, you know, basic security to their citizens. And all we hear is this campaign that we are violating human rights, and it’s very upsetting. Because I know how much life has been saved globally because of our technology. But I cannot talk about it.”
While he admits that some of his clients have misused the software, calling it a “violation of trusts”, he steers clear from naming anyone. However, the report — citing people familiar with the company’s dealings — noted that at least five clients’ access has been cut off and this includes Saudi Arabia, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (which allegedly came as a response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi) and some public agencies in Mexico.
‘Will shut down Pegasus if reports true’
This week, a global consortium of media organisations, including The Washington Post, reported that NSO’s Pegasus spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, business executives, and two women close to the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
According to the investigation, these 37 names appeared on a list of 50,000 phone numbers “that are concentrated in countries known to engage in surveillance of their citizens and also known to have been clients of NSO Group.”
Asked about the 37 attempted and confirmed hacks, Hulio said, “If even one is true, it is something we will not stand as a company,” adding that investigation is underway and any link between this list and NSO remains to be corroborated. “NSO also requires customers to sign an agreement promising to use the software only for law enforcement or counterterrorism purposes,” the report said.
Before even a line of code was written, Hulio and Lavie decided upon three basic principles that they claim to follow till date in order to “sleep at night”. First, they will only engage with govt entities; second, they would not be allowed to know who the targeted individuals are after the software is sold and third, approval will be sought from the export controls unit of Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
“They called the spyware Pegasus, after the winged horse in Greek mythology, because Hulio said the software was like a Trojan horse sent through the air to people’s phones,” the report noted. NSO’s first client was Mexico — who credited the software for catching drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán twice, in 2014 and 2016. It soon expanded its clientele rapidly and was showered with awards by top Israeli academic institutions.
Insisting that Pegasus was built for the greater good, Hulio said, “If somebody says, I found a better way to get criminals, get terrorists, get information from a pedophile, I will shut down this company, I will shut down Pegasus completely.”
Also read: A phone from makers of Pegasus spyware & other ways to protect your phone from hacking