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Leaked documents reveal Israel’s Ministry of Justice stepped in to conceal the spyware maker’s activity from a US court case.
A set of leaked documents from the Israel Ministry of Justice has revealed disturbing insights into the links between the Israeli government and spyware maker the NSO Group.
The documents were first leaked in April 2024 by Anonymous for Justice and contained 800,000 emails, over 700,000 images, 200,000 documents, and many presentations and spreadsheets.
The leak was shared widely on the messaging app Telegram, with the Israeli government going to some lengths to shut down channels sharing the data leak.
However, transparency organisation Distributed Denial of Secrets was able to archive the data to share it with journalists and researchers.
The data leak is invaluable as it shows the effort Israel’s government has made to protect the NSO Group’s secrets from an ongoing court case between WhatsApp and the spyware maker. The company is best known for its “zero-click” Pegasus spyware app, which many human rights organisations have said is being used to target journalists, politicians, and other members of civil society.
WhatsApp is alleging that the NSO Group deployed its software against 1,400 users in 2019, and it has sought the release of several documents relating to the incident.
The leaked data, however, reveals that the Israel Ministry of Justice seized the documents before they could be shared with the US court through the discovery process. The Justice Ministry also enacted a gag order to keep the seizure under wraps.
According to the website Forbidden Stories, the leaked documents show “that in 2020, NSO’s legal team believed that sensitive documents, such as its full customer list, including ‘US customers,’ contracts, or even information related to ‘the Jeff Bezos hack or Khashoggi killing’ could be among the files that might fall under the discovery”.
Amnesty International’s Security Lab’s Donncha Ó Cearbhaill said that Israel had a duty to ensure its nationals and companies do not “contribute to human rights violations anywhere in the world”.
“These documents suggest that not only are they failing to do this but are actively trying to shield NSO Group from accountability for its role in severe human rights violations,” Ó Cearbhaill said.
“Such revelations call into question Israel’s commitment to impartially regulate NSO Group and cast doubt on its ability to provide justice, truth and reparation to those affected by Pegasus spyware.”
The NSO Group claimed in June 2024 that it felt “persons who, by virtue of their positions in government or military organisations”, were legitimate targets for spying operations.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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