However, the FBI is also being criticized for this. Citizen Lab director Ron Deebert said it was “definitely disturbing” to spend millions of dollars on a company known to facilitate acts that violate human rights and threaten America’s national security. Citizen Lab is the watchdog of the University of Toronto. It has uncovered dozens of Pegasus hacks since 2016. Ron Deebert said that this sounds like a very counterproductive and irresponsible approach.
An FBI spokesperson did not say what or when the agency paid NSO Group. But the New York Times reported last week that a one-year license was taken for $5 million in 2019. A source familiar with the deal is quoted by the Guardian as saying that the FBI paid $4 million to renew the license, but never used spyware.
In November, the US Commerce Department blacklisted NSO Group, preventing access to US technology. Although NSO Group has said that Pegasus is programmed not to target phones with US country codes, US citizens living abroad have been victims.
At the same time, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement that the American public deserves more transparency about NSO from its government. He should know if his government considers the use of these tools against Americans as legal.
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