Tag: Pegasus

Hype on iPhone ‘ban’ shows US has a guilty conscience

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The biggest destroyer of the global economic and trade order is being paranoid. This is perhaps the most incisive and vivid explanation of why the US government and media outlets have seen a rumored ban on iPhones as China’s retaliation against the US.

Hype on iPhone ‘ban’ shows US has a guilty conscience

Related:

US spokesman behind on the news pours gas on seemingly settled China iPhone ban

In what appears to be a statement generated before news of the Chinese government refuting ban rumors, the White House chimed in on the matter, as reported by Bloomberg. The National Security Council shared that it is watching the issue with concern.

A Front Company and a Fake Identity: How the U.S. Came to Use Spyware It Was Trying to Kill.

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A Front Company and a Fake Identity: How the U.S. Came to Use Spyware It Was Trying to Kill.

The secret contract — which The New York Times is disclosing for the first time — violates the Biden administration’s public policy, and still appears to be active. The contract, reviewed by The Times, stated that the “United States government” would be the ultimate user of the tool, although it is unclear which government agency authorized the deal and might be using the spyware. It specifically allowed the government to test, evaluate, and even deploy the spyware against targets of its choice in Mexico.

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The secret November 2021 contract used the same American company — designated as “Cleopatra Holdings” but actually a small New Jersey-based government contractor called Riva Networks — that the F.B.I. used two years earlier to purchase Pegasus. Riva’s chief executive used a fake name in signing the 2021 contract and at least one contract Riva executed on behalf of the F.B.I.

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The deal unfolded as the European private equity fund that owns NSO pursued a plan to get U.S. government business by establishing a holding company, Gideon Cyber Systems. The private equity fund’s ultimate goal was to find an American buyer for the company.

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The FBI and Zero-Click

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

During the Trump administration, the FBI paid $5 million to an Israeli software company for a license to use its “zero-click” surveillance software called Pegasus. Zero-click refers to software that can download the contents of a target’s computer or mobile device without the need for tricking the target into clicking on it. The FBI operated the software from a warehouse in New Jersey.

The FBI and Zero-Click

Related:

NSO Group Pitched Phone Hacking Tech to American Police

A former NSO employee told Motherboard that Phantom was “a brand name for U.S. territory,” but the “same Pegasus,” referring to NSO’s phone hacking tool that the company has sold to multiple countries including the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia for millions of dollars. Infamously, Saudi Arabia used the software to surveil associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Motherboard granted the source anonymity to protect them from retaliation from NSO

Source

Europe’s Watergate? The Pegasus spyware scandal keeps spreading

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Revelations about alleged surveillance of journalists and politicians with spyware continue to surface in Europe, with four EU states accused of illegitimate snooping. Is it “Europe’s Watergate”?Would you like to browse the contents of a cellphone in the interest of national security? If you have millions of dollars and are a government agency, you could try approaching the NSO Group, an Israeli company that has sold its Pegasus spyware to scrupulous governments worldwide, and its products in 14 EU states, according to the European Parliament.

Europe’s Watergate? The Pegasus spyware scandal keeps spreading

Revealed: The Former Israeli Spies Working In Top Jobs At Google, Facebook And Microsoft

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

A MintPress study has found that hundreds of former agents of the notorious Israeli spying organization, Unit 8200, have attained positions of influence in many of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.

Revealed: The Former Israeli Spies Working In Top Jobs At Google, Facebook And Microsoft

H/T: Alan MacLeod on the Former Israeli Spies in Top Social Media Jobs