World leaders fight over cyber weapons Episode 1

World leaders fight over cyber weapons Episode 1 In June 2019, three Israeli computer engineers arrived at an FBI building in New Jersey, USA. They took out dozens of computer servers they had brought with them. Then they are arranged in a closed room on a shelf. After setting up their equipment, they made a series of phone calls to senior officials at NSO Group headquarters in the Herzliya region of Tel Aviv. The NSO Group is the world's most notorious spyware maker. Once the instruments were in place, they began testing.

The FBI purchased a version of NSO's spying software Pegasus. For nearly a decade, the Israeli firm had been selling its surveillance software on a subscription model to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world. They promise, they can do things that no other company, or even a state intelligence agency, can do. They can decrypt encrypted messages of any iPhone and smartphone consistently and with high reliability. NSO introduced Pegasus software to the global market in 2011. With the help of this software, Mexican authorities were able to arrest drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman Loera, better known as 'El Chapo'. European intelligence has quietly used Pegasus software to prevent terrorist activity, eliminate organized crime, identify suspects in more than 40 countries, and arrest international child trafficking rings. One of the biggest problems for law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the 21st century has been the possession of sophisticated encrypted communication systems in the hands of criminals and terrorists that intelligence agencies do not have the ability to decrypt. By and large, NSO's products seemed to offer a solution to this problem. But when the company's engineers walked through the doors of its New Jersey office in 2019, Pegasus had already had many complaints filed against it. Mexico has not only used this software to catch gangsters. Rather, they have used it against journalists and political opponents. UAE hacks a civil rights activist's phone with this software. The Emirates government sentenced him to prison. Saudi Arabia has used it against women's rights activists. The Saudi government used the software to eavesdrop on Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's communications with him, according to a lawsuit filed by a Saudi government dissident. Khashoggi was assassinated in Istanbul in 2018. But so many controversies could not stop new buyers coming to NSO. Among them was the United States. Details about the FBI's purchase of Pegasus or testing of the software have never been released. The year Khashoggi died, the CIA helped the Djibouti government buy Pegasus software to help America's allies fight terrorism. The DEA, the Secret Service, the US military's Africa Command continue to negotiate with the NSO despite accusations of Pegasus' role in human rights abuses, repression of journalists and government opponents. The FBI was taking the next step in their direction. As part of the training, FBI agents purchased new smartphones from local stores and attached dummy accounts to them using foreign SIM cards. Pegasus is designed so that American phone numbers cannot be hacked. Pegasus engineers then opened the interface and started hacking the phone numbers.

This version of Pegasus is called 'Zero Click', which is different from other hacking software. Unlike other software, Pegasus doesn't have to send any kind of link that someone clicks to take over the device. So even if the data was hacked then the American FBI agents monitoring the phone could not see any evidence. Pegasus computers connected to a network of servers around the world were hacking the phones and sending them to devices in New Jersey. But FBI agents could not see any of these things there. A few minutes later, what they see is that every bit of data on their phones has flashed onto the Pegasus computer monitor. These included emails, photos, text messages, phone numbers in contacts. They also found the location of the phone, and even its camera and microphone came into their possession. In theory, FBI agents could have turned mobile phones from any country in the world except America into powerful surveillance systems. In 2013, the controversy over domestic surveillance arose after former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden leaked information about the government's surveillance of American citizens. As smartphones and spyware advanced, the possibility of terabytes of data being leaked from phones every day was increasing. Then there was the debate about balancing personal privacy and national security. Israel was then alerted and forced to disable NSO's Pegasus from targeting American phone numbers. This prevents the NSO's foreign clients from spying on American numbers. Also, their American clients cannot monitor American citizens. Recently the NSO came up with a solution to the FBI. In a presentation in Washington, they introduced a new system called 'Phantom' to FBI officials. Through this, the FBI can hack any phone number inside America. Israel grants special licenses to NSO's Phantom system, allowing them to target American numbers. This license allows NSO to sell the Phantom system only to US government agencies. According to an NSO brochure published by VICE News, it told prospective buyers that the Phantom system would provide information to American law enforcement and intelligence agencies "by collecting sensitive data from mobile devices." It is an 'individual solution'. No support from AT&T, Verizon, Apple or Google is required for this. This system will turn smartphones into data mines. The Phantom continued to be negotiated by Justice Department attorneys and the FBI for two years, including by two presidential administrations. The main topic of discussion was whether the use of phantom would conflict with long-standing telephone tampering laws. The FBI renewed the contract for the Pegasus system and the NSO was awarded a nearly $5 million contract while the dispute between lawyers continued. During this time, NSO engineers were in regular contact with FBI personnel and discussed technical and legal processes. These discussions between the Justice Department and the FBI continued until last summer. The FBI ultimately decided not to use the NSO's 'weapon'. Around this time, a consortium of news organizations called Forbidden Stories began uncovering new information about NSO cyber weapons. The way they are used against journalists and political opponents is also exposed. The Pegasus system is currently dormant in New Jersey.

An FBI spokesperson said, New technologies are tested in the bureau. In addition to looking at aspects of use through the legal process, it also considers counterterrorism and the security and civil liberties of the American people. That is, we regularly identify, analyze and test various technical solutions. One of its objectives is to determine how security measures will be taken if these technologies fall into the hands of the wrong people. The CIA, DEA, Secret Service and Africa Command declined to comment. A Djibouti spokesman said the country had never purchased or used any Pegasus software.