THE FBI says it tested Israeli-based NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware for potential use in criminal investigations.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed it tested Pegasus spyware while it was investigating whether the technology had been used to illegally hack phones in the United States, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
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“The FBI works diligently to stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft — not just to explore a potential legal use but also to combat crime and to protect both the American people and our civil liberties,” the FBI said in a statement to The Washington Post this week.
“That means we routinely identify, evaluate, and test technical solutions and problems for a variety of reasons, including possible operational and security concerns they might pose in the wrong hands,” the statement continued.
Pegasus spyware is NSO’s premier spying tool as it promises that it can reliably overcome the encryption of any iPhone or Android smartphone to covertly infiltrate a user’s calls, texts, pictures, and whereabouts.
Since it was first released in 2011, the spyware has been sold to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world.
The tool has helped Mexican authorities capture drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, or ‘El Chapo’, as well as European investigators to combat terrorist plots, organized crime, and bring down a global child-abuse ring, The New York Times reported.
As more criminals and terrorists use encryption to perpetuate their illegal activity, the NSO’s product initially seems heaven-sent for law enforcement.
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However, there have also been documented instances of the spyware being used to target journalists (including the late Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi), track activists, and locate lawyers and their families.
Furthermore, NSO initially claimed that the technology could not be used to target American phones with a +1 U.S. area code, however, documents obtained by Motherboard in 2020 show that the group created a separate product called Phantom, which could.
These tools seemed to have piqued the interest of the FBI, as the tech firm presented both to the agency in 2019.
According to The Times, FBI employees underwent a Pegasus training on “dummy” phones that could let them silently view every email, photo, text thread, personal contact on the device.
“They could also see the phone’s location and even take control of its camera and microphone,” The Times report said.
Because the hacking does not even require a user to click on a malicious attachment or link, it is known as “zero-click.”
The FBI insisted that they did not use Pegasus in any investigation, and they had procured a limited license for product testing only.
The FBI also decided against deploying the spyware in 2021, while NSO has said it will investigate abuses of the technology and discontinue service to clients who violate the company’s rules, according to The Times report.
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