UK: Human Rights lawyer targeted with NSO technology, repeatedly used against activists
"WhatsApp spyware attack was attempt to hack human rights data, says lawyer", 14 May 2019
The UK lawyer whose phone was targeted by spyware that exploits a WhatsApp vulnerability said it appeared to be a desperate attempt by someone to covertly find out the details of his human rights work.The lawyer, who asked not to be named, is involved in a civil case brought against the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group whose sophisticated Pegasus malware has reportedly been used against Mexican journalists, and a prominent Saudi dissident living in Canada. It has been claimed the would-be hacker had also repeatedly attempted to install Pegasus on the lawyer’s phone in recent weeks...” NSO Group said: “NSO’s technology is licensed to authorised 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. Facebook-owned WhatsApp has encouraged its 1.5 billion users to update to the latest version of the app after discovering the vulnerability... WhatsApp said in a statement: “We have briefed a number of human rights organisations to share the information we can and to work with them to notify civil society.”...