Lawmakers want information about Pegasus, the spyware developed by NSO Group, demanding answers from Apple and the FBI about the latter’s use of it.
Pegasus is a spyware application NSO markets to law enforcement and government agencies. In mid-2021, however, news broke that NSO had sold Pegasus to authoritarian regimes that were using the software to spy on journalists, human rights activists, and diplomats. The news was particularly notable over the fact that the software was being used to target Apple’s iPhone, a platform otherwise known for having good security.
The reaction was swift and severe, with AWS banning NSO, Apple suing the company, and Congress adding it to the Entity List, essentially blacklisting it. Among the revelations, however, was that the FBI was one of NSO’s customers.
Lawmakers want answers regarding the FBI’s use of the software, according to CNBC, sending letters to both Apple and the FBI to ascertain the scope of the FBI’s involvement.
“The Committee is examining the FBI’s acquisition, testing, and use of NSO’s spyware, and potential civil liberty implications of the use of Pegasus or Phantom against U.S. persons,” reads the letter to Apple.
The FBI has long been critical of the security and encryption modern devices provide users, seeking to undermine that security at nearly every opportunity. Its efforts have included supporting efforts to legislate weaker encryption, wanting Apple and others to develop backdoors in their security, and investing in tools —like Pegasus —that can break encryption.
