Citing multiple sources close to the matter, The New York Times claims that, without the apparent knowledge of the Biden administration, some US intelligence “in silence supported himThe so-called L3Harris agreement, which aims to obtain a certain degree of acquisition of NSO Group, an Israeli spyware company whose reputation has taken a severe blow in recent months.
According to the report, executives of defense contractor L3Harris have made “numerous” visits to Israel in recent months to secretly discuss the acquisition, allegedly conveying supportive views from some US intelligence officials. The said grant went to the recipients without the knowledge of Biden administration officials, who were already outraged by leaks last month about negotiations to buy the NSO, which the US Commerce Department blacklisted last year – Writes ujkelet.live
Talks about the deal, which US and Israeli media reported in June, have reportedly broken off following the leaks, although the New York Times says various levels of negotiations are still underway.
According to an earlier report by the Guardian newspaper, the main agenda item in the negotiations was the sale of the base NSO token to buyer L3Harris, and some intelligence officials would support the acquisition of the cyber company’s spyware, which is of great importance to intelligence and security agencies around the world.
L3Harris, NSO, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense declined to comment on the matter.
The collapse of negotiations over the US acquisition, which has been a lifeline for NSO Group, which has been in a near bankruptcy situation since being added to the US blacklist, is exacerbating the situation. If the deal goes through, the source said, the number of customers certified to use the technology will be limited to the so-called “five allies – the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.”
However, the White House made it clear that it was “in no way involved in this potential transaction.”
In November, the US Commerce Department added Israeli electronic intelligence firms NSO and Candiru to its blacklist of companies it believes engage in activities contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests.
This was the first time that the US government targeted Israeli electronic companies that obtained export licenses from the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
The Commerce Department said its decision was based on evidence that the two companies had developed and sold spyware to foreign governments, which in turn had “used it to target government officials, journalists, businessmen, activists, academics, and embassy staff.”
Israel has repeatedly asked the Biden administration in recent months to remove the Israeli cyber espionage company NSO from the Commerce Ministry’s blacklist.
In recent years, the NSO has become a strategic tool for the Israeli defense organizations, and Mossad in particular, among other things, to promote covert contacts with countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations, or to strengthen intelligence relations with countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations
Removing the NSO from the US blacklist would mark a dramatic shift by the Biden administration and likely draw criticism from progressives in the Democratic Party and Congress, as well as much of the cybersecurity community.
An international consortium of investigative journalists reported in July that NSO’s Pegasus program, designed to track terrorists and criminals, has become a valuable tool for governments to spy on journalists and critics.
Among other countries, Hungary, India, Mexico, Morocco and Saudi Arabia are included in the report as clients of NSO.
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