Israel tightens control over sales of its electronic systems post “Pegasus” scandal
-
Roshan Amiri
- . December 7, 2021
- . Update: December 8, 2021 1:29 am
Israel–The Israeli Ministry of Defense decided, on Monday, to tighten control over the export of electronic systems, after the scandal of the NSO company that produced the “Pegasus” spyware, according to a Hebrew channel.
Kan channel (official) said that the Defense Ministry’s Security Export Control Department issued that countries buying Israeli cyber equipment must sign a declaration promising to use the products “only for the investigation and prevention of terrorist actions and serious crimes.
In case of violation of the provisions, penalties can be imposed, including restriction or disconnection of the cyber system. The announcement was made few days after it was disclosed that NSO spyware had been used to hack 11 US State Department workers. According to a source familiar with the situation, the personnel were all based in Uganda and included some foreign service officers.
In early November, the US Department of Commerce included two Israeli companies working in the field of spyware development, in the ‘black list’, namely the ‘NSO’ company, which designed the ‘Pegasus’ program, and the ‘Candiru’ company (based in Tel Aviv).
Kan channel reported , at the time, that the US decision was based on evidence confirming that ‘these entities developed and provided spyware to foreign governments that was used as a malicious tool to attack government officials, journalists, businessmen, activists, academics and embassy employees.’
Last July, the British newspaper, The Guardian, published the results of an investigation conducted by 17 media organizations, which concluded that the “Pegasus” spy program had spread widely around the world, and was “used for bad purposes.”
After infiltrating targets’ phones, Pegasus is used to eavesdrop on them, monitor emails, take pictures and record conversations. Israel has previously stated that cyber exports are limited to counter-terrorism and criminal activity. The definitions have been “sharpened” in the revised guidelines, according to the ministry.
