Security News > 2021 > July > EXPLAINER: Target List of Israeli Hack-for-Hire Firm Widens
Human rights and press freedom activists are up in arms about a new report on NSO Group, the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company.
The report, by a global media consortium, expands public knowledge of the target list used in NSO's military-grade spyware.
Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International obtained the data and say that it people potential targeted for surveillance by NSO's clients.
NSO denies ever maintaining a list of "Potential, past or existing targets." It claims to provide its services only to "Vetted government agencies" for use against terrorists and major criminals, and denies any association with Khashoggi's murder.
A phone number's presence in the data does not necessarily mean an attempt was made to hack a device, said Amnesty, which found Pegasus infection traces on the cellphones of 15 journalists on the list.
Last year, an Israeli court dismissed an Amnesty lawsuit seeking to strip NSO of its export license, citing insufficient evidence.