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CYBER

The Cyber Mercenaries Who Can’t Stay Out Of Bad News

CYBER

VICE

Tech News, News & Politics, Technology, News

4645 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2020

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It was implicated in the hacking and spying of activists in Mexico. It may have helped the Saudis kill and behead Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, it’s inserting itself into the pandemic news as if it needed more bad press.


NSO Group, the infamous Israeli spyware company with links to intelligence agencies, developed software tracking coronavirus-infected citizens. But, as our Motherboard reporter Lorenzo Franceschi Bicchierai tells us, that’s likely just a way for it to expand its questionable business.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Tann, it's got the code it's going to launch.

0:10.7

It's a unit system.

0:13.1

I know this.

0:15.1

It's all the files of the whole park.

0:17.3

It tells her everything.

0:19.1

Sir, he's uploading the virus. Eagle one. The package is being delivered.

0:24.6

It was implicated in the hacking and spying of activists in Mexico.

0:29.6

It may have helped the Saudis kill and behead Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

0:33.6

Now here's an offer that many governments just cannot refuse. Would you like to hack into the phones

0:39.1

of journalists, gather up every bit of data, and trace every call, message, and keystroke? Then you're

0:45.8

in luck. There's some malware, malicious software for that. This story starts with an Israeli company

0:51.9

called the NSAO Group. It says it's in the business

0:54.7

of cyber intelligence for global security and stability. Now, it's inserting itself into

1:00.5

the pandemic news as if it needed more bad press. NSO Group, the infamous Israeli spyware company

1:06.9

with links to intelligence agencies, developed software tracking coronavirus infected citizens.

1:12.9

But as our motherboard reporter Lorenzo Franceschi Bikadai tells us, that's likely just a way

1:17.9

for it to expand its questionable business. I'm Ben Maku, and this is cyber.

1:30.4

Lorenzo, welcome back. Welcome back to the show.

1:33.8

It's great to be back, Ben. It's been a while.

1:35.1

It's been a little while.

1:37.8

It seems like 300 years.

1:41.2

Yeah. I missed you.

...

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