November 7, 2018 at 12:11 pm |
Published in: Israel, Middle East, News, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, US
Edward Snowden speaks via video link
to participants of the 'MCI alumni and friends' conference at the Congress
Innsbruck on October 18, 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Photo
by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)
November
7, 2018 at 12:11 pm
US whistle-blower Edward Snowden
yesterday claimed that Saudi Arabia used Israeli spyware to target murdered
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv
via a video link, Snowden claimed that software made by an Israeli cyber
intelligence firm was used by Saudi Arabia to track and target Khashoggi in the
lead up to his murder on 2 October inside the Saudi Consulate in
Istanbul.
Snowden told his audience: “How do
they [Saudi Arabia] know what his [Khashoggi’s] plans were and that they needed
to act against him? That knowledge came from the technology developed by NSO,”
Israeli business daily Globes reported. Snowden accused NSO of “selling a
digital burglary tool,” adding it “is not just being used for catching
criminals and stopping terrorist attacks, not just for saving lives, but for
making money […] such a level of recklessness […] actually starts costing
lives,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
Snowden – made famous in 2013 for
leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) files and exposing the extent
of US surveillance – added that “Israel is routinely at the top of the US’
classified threat list of hackers along with Russia and China […] even though
it is an ally”. Snowden is wanted in the US for espionage, so could not travel
to Tel Aviv to address the conference in person for fear of being handed over
to the authorities.
The Israeli firm to which Snowden
referred – NSO Group Technologies – is known for developing the “Pegasus”
software which can be used to remotely infect a target’s mobile phone and then
relay back data accessed by the device. Although NSO claims that its products “are licensed only to
legitimate government agencies for the sole purpose of investigating and
preventing crime and terror,” this is not the first time its Pegasus software
has been used by Saudi Arabia to track critics.
