Multiple sources have confirmed that the discussions focused on the sale of the Israeli company’s core technology – or code – as well as a possible transfer of NSO personnel to L3Harris. However, any agreement still faces significant obstacles, including the requirement of the blessing of the US and Israeli governments, which have not yet given the green light for an agreement. This story was reported jointly by the Guardian, the Washington Post and Haaretz. If agreed, the deal would mark a major turning point for the NSO, less than a year after the Biden administration blacklisted the company and accused it of acting “against US foreign policy and national security interests.” NSO government clients are known to have used surveillance technology to target journalists, human rights activists, senior US government officials in allied countries and lawyers around the world. The Guardian and other media outlets have also described how NSO surveillance technology Pegasus has been used by the company’s government clients to target US citizens, including Carine Kanimba, the daughter of Rwandan dissident Paul Rusesabagina, as well as journalists and journalists. US states. department executives working abroad. Asked to comment on the talks, a L3Harris spokesman said: “We are aware of the capacity and are constantly assessing the national security needs of our customers. At this point, anything beyond that is speculation. “ The conversations between L3 and NSO were first reported by Intelligence Online. The White House said it had not been involved in “any way in this allegedly possible transaction.” A senior White House official said in a statement: “Such a transaction, if it were to take place, raises serious counterintelligence and security concerns for the US government.” The official also said that the US government “opposes the efforts of foreign companies to circumvent US export control measures or sanctions, including being placed on the US Department of Commerce’s list of entities for malicious cyber activity”. The official said any U.S. company – particularly a sophisticated U.S. defense contractor – should be aware that a blacklisted transaction “would not automatically remove a designated entity from the list of entities and prompt an intensive review to consider whether the transaction poses a counterintelligence threat to the US government and its systems and information, if other US shares with the defense contractor are at risk, to what extent a foreign entity or government retains a degree of access or control and wider human rights implications ». One person familiar with the talks said that if an agreement was reached, it would probably involve selling NSO’s capabilities to a drastically limited customer base that included the US government, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. including the “five eyes” intelligence alliance – as well as some NATO allies. The man also said the deal dealt with many unresolved issues, including whether the technology would be housed in Israel or the US and whether Israel would be allowed to continue using the technology as a customer. The man said it was also too early to confirm the price of any possible deal. The transaction would require the approval of the US government, as NSO is on the so-called list of entities in the trade department. Experts say any such transaction would likely require the creation of a new entity to obtain US approval. Any agreement would also face obstacles in Israel. One assumption in the Israeli cyber industry is that it should oversee Israeli technology in Israel and maintain all Pegasus and staff development in Israel. The NSO is controlled by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which had the absolute say over the company’s government clients. Israel has faced strong criticism in the past for agreeing to sell surveillance technology to countries with poor human rights records, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The NSO, which has been sued by Apple and WhatsApp in US courts, has said in the past that it takes all allegations of misuse of its tools seriously and is investigating such allegations. The Israeli Ministry of Defense and the NSO declined to comment. Any acquisition of NSO hacking technology will add to L3Harris’s current line of surveillance tools already sold to US government and law enforcement customers. The Florida-based company, which reports about $ 18 billion in annual sales, includes the FBI and NATO as customers. Any possible deal is fiercely opposed by digital rights advocates and human rights groups. John Scott-Railton, a senior fellow at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, said he was skeptical that US agencies and the services of the US’s closest allies would trust NSO technology for their most sensitive businesses. therefore, it is more likely to be sold to local authorities. “So where would the big market be?” I’m afraid the rational consumers will be the US police departments. “This would be an unprecedented threat to our civil liberties,” he said. The deal will also raise serious questions about the Biden administration’s commitment to holding the “bad guys” accountable, Scott Railton said. “All eyes are on the NSO right now. “If the White House does not stop this deal, many will conclude that the administration is weak in enforcement or that they are cynical and helped a US company get NSOs at sale prices because of sanctions,” he said. adding that any such agreement would show that US sanctions had no teeth and would encourage more investment in “mercenary hacking”. Additional citations by Omer Benjakob of Haaretz, Gur Megiddo of TheMarker and Ellen Nakashima, and Craig Timberg of the Washington Post
