NSO Blocks Some Government Clients From Using Its Spyware

NSO Group has blocked some of its government clients abroad from using its spyware as it examines allegations of misuse, according to a US report Thursday.

“There is an investigation into some clients. Some of those clients have been temporarily suspended,” a NSO employee was quoted saying by National Public Radio.

The source did not specify which countries or how many, saying NSO was barred under defense regulations from identifying its clients.

The Israel-based company has repeatedly been accused of selling its Pegasus spyware to repressive countries that use it to target journalists, activists and politicians.

The unnamed employee also would not comment on any possible misuse that the firm has uncovered in an internal probe.

“Almost everything we checked, we found no connection to Pegasus,” the source said.

NSO’s general counsel also commented on the company’s investigation.

“What we are doing is, what I think today is, the best standard that can be done,” Shmuel Sunray told NPR. “We’re on the one hand, I think, the world leaders in our human rights compliance, and the other hand we’re the poster child of human rights abuse.”