Israeli Software Helped Saudis Spy on Khashoggi, Lawsuit Says

NSO Group was co-founded by ex-members of Unit 8200, the Israeli Intelligence Corps unit responsible for collecting signals intelligence. The unit relies on selecting 16-18 year-old recruits with the ability for rapid adaptation and speedy learning. Former soldiers of this unit have also created ICQ, Viber, Incapsula, Onavo, and dozens of other IT companies[1]. &quot;How Israel Rules The World Of Cyber Security&quot; is a short documentary by VICE[2].<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Unit_8200" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Unit_8200</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ca-C3voZwpM" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ca-C3voZwpM</a>

I think it&#x27;s disturbing what happened to Khashoggi...but I don&#x27;t understand what the U.S. or the West is supposed to do about it. We can&#x27;t go to war over some guy who wasn&#x27;t even our citizen, killed in Turkey, by a foreign government. I hate to say it, but don&#x27;t things like this happen all the time in certain countries?

Can you imagine being a software engineer and being okay with getting rich by developing technology to out dissidents and have them murdered by some of the most oppressive governments on earth? Like, that&#x27;s what you <i>choose</i> to spend your time on.

Can somebody explain how was it possible to get whatsapp messages when it applies E2E encryption?<p>Did they have physical access to the devices? Was it all remote? Is it even feasible on an individual level and what would be the alternative(Signal? Telegram?)?

Citizen Lab [0] has an excellent writeup, it got installed by exploiting a vuln in iOS which jailbroke the device from a fake DHL parcel tracking link (screenshot included).<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;citizenlab.ca&#x2F;2018&#x2F;10&#x2F;the-kingdom-came-to-canada-how-saudi-linked-digital-espionage-reached-canadian-soil&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;citizenlab.ca&#x2F;2018&#x2F;10&#x2F;the-kingdom-came-to-canada-how...</a>

For what it’s worth, the Saudi’s also went to www.sinister.ly and paid $200 bucks a pop for certain spywares.

NYTimes: It is anti-semitic and scandalous that Facebook hired someone else to point out that George Soros&#x27; money helped groups critical of Facebook.<p>Also NYTimes: Israeli Software Helped Saudis...

Aside from the much more important core issues in the article, I found this bit interesting:<p>&gt; Because of those sweepingly invasive capabilities, Israel classifies the spyware as a weapon. The company must obtain approval from the Defense Ministry for its sale to foreign governments.<p>Does the U.S. use such classification for spyware and similar tools? What are the standards which determine whether or not it&#x27;s a weapon?

Given how much of the software development happens in Israel, there is probably some Israeli software in every phone. So describing it as &quot;Israeli software&quot; (as if it&#x27;s the only software ever made in Israel or Israel is exclusively known for developing spyware) is extremely misleading.

Can&#x27;t Apple sue them for hacking the iphones?

&gt;&gt;<i>Saudi Arabia paid $55 million last year for its use</i><p>They are going to ask questions after the Saudis splashing $55m? As if they needed to ask questions. It&#x27;s known why Russia, China, SA, UAE, Sudan and the likes want these programs