FBI was using advanced hacking software despite White House ban
Since November of 2021, US-based companies have been barred from doing business with the NSO Group, an Israeli research firm behind some of the most advanced hacking tools the tech world has ever seen. Come to find out, a New York Times investigation from this past April revealed that a US government agency was actively using a powerful hacking tool from the NSO Group dubbed Landmark.
The White House subsequently launched an investigation and asked the FBI for assistance. Which agency, the White House wanted to know, was operating in defiance of the ban? And believe it or not, the investigation revealed that the agency using Pegasus was the FBI itself. Specifically, the FBI was using the software to track suspected drug cartel members in Mexico.
For what it’s worth, the FBI says the tool was provided to them by a contractor called Riva Networks. According to the FBI, the bureau wasn’t aware of the software’s origins.
The report reads in part:
The F.B.I. now says that it used the tool unwittingly and that Riva Networks misled the bureau. Once the agency discovered in late April that Riva had used the spying tool on its behalf, Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, terminated the contract, according to U.S. officials.
…
It is also unclear which, if any, government agencies besides the F.B.I. might have worked with Riva Networks to deploy the spying tool in Mexico. Two people with direct knowledge of the contract said cellphone numbers in Mexico were targeted throughout 2021, 2022 and into this year — far longer than the F.B.I. says the tool was used.
The reason why the NSO Group is precluded from doing business in the US is a long and interesting tale. Put simply, several stories over the past few years revealed that foreign governments with questionable human rights records were using NSO Group hacking tools to “maliciously target” journalists and dissidents. This ultimately prompted the White House to ban American companies from doing any type of…
