YDS 2021 in Review

In the US, the Biden administration placed the NSO Group on a blacklist on
November 3, 2021 in response to the findings, concluding that the group is acting
“contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US”. This
blacklisting has barred the NSO group from purchasing the parts and components it
needs to develop its spyware from US companies. Amnesty Tech Deputy Director
Dana Ingleton supported the US decision to blacklist the NSO Group, describing
Pegasus as “a tool of repression… used around the world to violate human rights”.
After it was revealed that Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet members were
identified as possible targets for surveillance, Macron changed his phone number
and phone, and announced an overhaul of France’s security procedures. France
initiated contact with Israel to express concern about the NSO Group and Pegasus,
with the former denying that Pegasus was used to target Macron or French
government officials. On November 1, 2021, Mexican police arrested a former
technician with links to the group for allegedly phone tapping a journalist between
2015 and 2016. Nearly one-third of the 50,000 phones identified as being infected
by Pegasus were from Mexico. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan also
demanded the United Nations investigate India’s use of Pegasus.
Messaging service WhatsApp affirmed the US government’s decision and has sued
the NSO Group in response to allegations that Pegasus was used to target 1400
WhatsApp users in 2019. They believe that the blacklist goes a long way in protecting
people’s ability to have private conversations online.
The American Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute, and
intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden have all called for further investigation
into Pegasus, highlighting numerous abuses of the Pegasus spyware. Amazon’s
cloud subsidiary AWS also terminated “relevant infrastructure and accounts” linked
to NSO in response to the investigation.
The EU Parliament awarded the Pegasus Project the 2021 Daphne Caruana Galicia
journalism prize for its work on exposing Pegasus. Nevertheless, the NSO Group has
defended Pegasus and plans to present more information on their group and their
product to the world.
C O N C L U S I O N
It is clear that Pegasus has emerged as the threat in the modern era, and much
more still needs to be done to address it. While the NSO Group may claim their
technology is specifically for targeting terrorists and national security threats, it is
evident that this is not the case.
P A G E 1 3 3 | 2 0 2 1 B Y Y D S