Thread by @StefSimanowitz

71/. NSO's #Pegasus spyware has been repeatedly used by abusive govts to target peaceful human rights defenders, activists & critics

86 NGOs & independent experts are now asking the EU to #SanctionNSO & ban all use of its technologies
@hrw #PegasusSpyware hrw.org/news/2021/12/0…

72/. The mobile phone of Kamel Jendoubi a UN-backed investigator who was examining possible war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen was targeted with spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group. #PegasusProject #Pegasus #PegasusSpyware #SaudiArabia
theguardian.com/world/2021/dec…

73/. @AmnestyTech confirms @citizenlab's finding that Polish Senator @KrzysztofBrejza was hacked with #PegasusSpyware during the 2019 parliamentary election campaign

Ruling party chair admits buying #Pegasus but denies it was used for political purposes!
apnews.com/article/techno…

74/. These revelations show the need for govts to stop non-human rights compliant forms of surveillance & for a global moratorium on the export, sale, transfer & use of surveillance equipment, 'til a human rights-compliant regulatory framework is in place.
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

75/. Israeli police 'used #Pegasus spyware to hack phones of citizens'

"These revelations are further proof that journalists, politicians, lawyers, activists & human rights defenders are all at risk from secretive surveillance," Gil Naveh @AmnestyIsrael middleeasteye.net/news/pegasus-s…

76/. As Israeli spyware dealer NSO Group is facing renewed scrutiny over the abuse of its #Pegasus WhatsApp hacking tools, an US startup - secretly backed by #Palantir’s Peter Thiel - could also rptly hack WhatsApp

Palantir run the NHS #Covid data store.
forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…

77/. "This is an earthquake"

According to @calcalist, Israel police used NSO's Pegasus spyware against top govt officials, journalists & activistsmall without a court order. (via @haaretzcom)
haaretz.com/israel-news/is…

78/. Today, the @DalaiLama tweeted:

“Whether science or religion is constructive or destructive depends on our motivation & whether we are guided by moral principles”

Last year, it emerged that the Dalai Lama’s closest advisers & staff were potential targets of Pegasus spyware.

https://twitter.com/DalaiLama/status/1490618848118468608

79/. The words of the @DalaiLama echo Carl Sagan’s warning:

“We’ve arranged a society based on science & technology, in which nobody understands anything about science & technology. This combustible mixture of ignorance & power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces”

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1471796744455397379

80/. “OK! I admit it! I had a toke on the spliff, but I never inhaled”

Last week, the FBI finally admitted that it tested NSO Pegasus spyware, but the agency claims “it had not been used in support of any investigation”. #PegasusSpyware #NSOGroup #Israel
democracynow.org/2022/2/3/headl…

81/. “If 2022 is to be a year of reckoning for the wider spyware industry, then govts must prioritize strengthening domestic laws against surveillance & accountability mechanisms & revamp procurement & export controls” @amnesty’s @ErikaGuevaraR #Pegasus
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…

82/. "These new findings increase concerns, not only for politicians, but for the whole of Poland’s civil society" @amnestyPL

@AmnestyTech's Security Lab uncovered evidence of #Pegasus spyware targeting people linked to #Poland's political opposition👇
theguardian.com/world/2022/feb…

83/. Worried about cyber-attacks?

Want to keep yourself as digitally secure as possible?

These might not be able to protect you from sophisticated #PegasusSpyware type attacks, but
here are 8 tips to help.
#Pegasus #CyberAttack #cyberattacks

84/. "Once it owns your phone, it owns everything..."

A new video from @amnesty reveals how @AmnestyTech’s Security Lab & @FbdnStories helped uncover the #PegasusProject spyware scandal 👀
#Pegasus #PegasusSpyware #Pegases2022 amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

85/. Journalists at #IJF22, make sure you check out this👇

The #Pegasus Project: A worldwide collaboration to counter a global crime' with @amnesty’s @Ingleton @laurentrichard0 @sandrinerigaud & @svaradarajan. #PegasusSpyware #PegasusProject @FbdnStories
journalismfestival.com/programme/2022…

86/. Senior officials at the European Commission were targeted last year with #PegasusSpyware designed by Israeli surveillance firm

They included @dreynders
the former European Justice Commissioner #PegasusProject #Pegasus @FbdnStories @AmnestyTech @hrw
reuters.com/technology/exc…

87/. Unbeknownst to him, the phone of Greek journalist @nasoskook was under surveillance for 10 weeks

Who was using this spyware tool, Predator to monitor this @insidestory_gr journalist?

@e_triantafillou & @telloglou report

An investigation is needed. insidestory.gr/article/who-wa…

88/. “The Spanish govt needs to come clean over whether or not it is a customer of NSO Group. It must also conduct an investigation into the use of #PegasusSpyware against the Catalans identified in our #Pegasus investigation”
@amnesty @AmnestyTech #Spain amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

89/. Boris Johnson told that his Downing St office has been targeted with “multiple” suspected infections using #PegasusSpyware the hacking software made by Israeli NSO group

@RonanFarrow reports that the FCO was hacked at least 5 times in 2020/21

@citizenlab links hacks to UAE

https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1516030606509019138

90/. The inside story of the world’s most notorious commercial spyware, NSO Group’s #Pegasus, and the big tech companies waging war against it.

@RonanFarrow’s devastating investigation into #PegasusSpyware & how it allows govts to spy on their citizens. newyorker.com/magazine/2022/…

91/. #Spain is to reform secret services after #PegasusSpyware scandal

The use of #Pegasus spyware to target Catalan independence leaders & Spanish politicians – including the PM – has plunged Spain into a “crisis of democracy” @RonDeibert of @citizenlab euroweeklynews.com/2022/05/26/spa…

92/. Wow!

#Spain's PM, Pedro Sánchez is questioning the methodology of the award-winning @amnesty @citizenlab @FbdnStories #Pegasus investigation

It involved 80+ journalists from 17 media orgs in 10 countries conducting cutting-edge forensic technology europapress.es/nacional/notic…

93/. “Govts haven't done enough to investigate or stop human rights violations caused by spyware like #Pegasus. The use, sale & transfer of this surveillance technology must be temporarily stopped to prevent further human rights abuses” @amnistiaespana amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

94/. Layers upon layers!

NSO Group is made up of 30+ subsidiaries & units — with names like CS-Circles Solutions & Westbridge Technologies — across Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Bulgaria, the US, Hong Kong, & UK. #Pegasus #PegasusSpyware mahdiabbastech.medium.com/european-parli…

95/. L3Harris, the US company behind the invasive Stingray cell phone surveillance device, plans to acquire NSO Group, the Israeli hacking company that makes #Pegasus spyware.

If this deal goes forward, civil liberties would be endangered #PegasusProject
protocol.com/policy/nso-l3h…

96/. Eleven months after the #PegasusProject revealed that journalists, media company owners, lawyers, politicians etc were surveilled in Hungary with #Pegasus spyware, Hungarian prosecutors found absolutely no wrongdoing & dropped the case
#PegasusSpyware budapesttimes.hu/hungary/invest…

97/. “Credit Suisse pushed for NSO Group to keep selling its #Pegasus spyware to new customers just weeks after the US blacklisted the Israeli cyberweapon manufacturer, saying authoritarian regimes had used its hacking tool to silence dissent” @FT ft.com/content/e55a92…

98/. Former Polish officials have been identified as victims of attempted phone hacking using NSO’s #PegasusSpyware spyware

In partnership with Gazeta Wyborcza news agency, @amnesty confirmed the new victims of attempted spying.
#Pegasus #PegasusProject english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/…

99/ On the 1st anniversary of the publishing of the #PegasusProject comes news US defense firm L3Harris dropped talks with NSO Group to purchase its #PegasusSpyware capability after the Biden admin expressed counterintelligence & security concerns #Pegasus washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

100/. #PegasusSpyware is so powerful & dangerous that the US put NSO on a black list after it was reported it was sold to "human-rights abusers"

Today the @nytimes reports that the Pentagon backed attempts by a US contractor to buy the company #Pegasus nytimes.com/2022/07/10/us/…

101/. A year after publication of #PegasusProject, spyware found on phones of dozens of activists in Thailand, including leaders of mass protests

New infections also found in Belgium

The nephew of jailed Hotel Rwanda dissident hacked by #Pegasus spyware

https://twitter.com/amnestypress/status/1548875286523293697

102/. “That’s their goal: to make you paranoid, isolate you from people & lock you in a prison” @amnesty on #Pegasus spyware

Any attempt by NSO to evade accountability must be resisted. The entire surveillance industry is broken & needs urgent reform amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

103/. “Once it owns your phone, it owns everything” @amnesty

A year after the #PegasusProject laid bare how govts used NSO’s spyware to silence journalists, attack activists & crush dissent the unlawful of spyware has continued. #PegasusSpyware #Pegasus

104/. “#PegasusSpyware has taken surveillance to a new level & made me more vulnerable than I used to be” @Belaben

In many countries it’s dangerous to speak out for human rights

Govts intimidate, harass & arrest people – & now they rely on digital surveillance to do it #Pegasus