NSO’s Effect: ’Israel’ Limits Spy Tech Sales

By Staff, Agencies 

"Israel’s" War Ministry is reportedly placing new limitations on where the apartheid entity's cybersecurity firms can sell their surveillance and hacking tools, sharply narrowing its list of approved nations for such deals.

Notably absent from the list are "Israel’s" new allies: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. 

The 'Jerusalem Post' daily said on Thursday that by slashing the list of approved nations to 37 from 102, the War ministry also excluded “behind-the-scenes ally” Saudi Arabia.

Countries that survived the purge include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, South Korea, and dozens of European nations, according to "Israel’s" Calcalist newspaper.

The move comes after the US Commerce Department earlier this month blacklisted "Israeli" firms NSO Group and Candiru for allegedly supplying spyware to governments that used the technology to abuse human rights.

“These tools have also enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression, which is the practice of authoritarian governments targeting dissidents, journalists and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent,” Washington said. “Such practices threaten the rules-based international order.”

Apple on Tuesday announced that it is suing NSO over its Pegasus phone-hacking spyware, which was used to infect thousands of iPhones around the world. Breaching those phones allowed clients to target dissidents, activists, journalists and politicians, among others.