Israeli Spyware Infected Cellphones Via WhatsApp: Reports
Image by iStock
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Spyware reported to have been developed by an Israeli cyber company was used to infect targeted mobile phones through a vulnerability in the popular WhatsApp messaging program.
Among those reportedly targeted were journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. It also reportedly was found on the phone of a close friend of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The spyware was able to compromise personal cellphones through the app’s voice-calling function, even if the call was not answered.
The Financial Times identified the firm as NSO Group, based in Herzliya in central Israel. CNN also quoted what it identified as a source familiar with the investigation into the software attacks who said the firm that created the spyware is NSO Group.
In a statement provided to CNN on Monday, NSO said, “Under no circumstances would NSO be involved in the operating or identifying of targets of its technology, which is solely operated by intelligence and law enforcement agencies.”
The statement also said that “NSO’s technology is licensed to authorized government agencies for the sole purpose of fighting crime and terror. The company does not operate the system, and after a rigorous licensing and vetting process, intelligence and law enforcement determine how to use the technology to support their public safety missions.”
WhatsApp has more than 1.5 billion users around the world. The company has issued a patch for the vulnerability.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
