New York Times: US defense company wanted to buy maker Pegasus spyware
The American defense company L3 Harris wanted to buy Pegasus maker NSO, writes The New York Times based on insiders. The White House was unaware of the negotiations. In addition, the Israeli company is blacklisted by the US government.
The newspaper writes that executives from L3 Harris, which itself has experience in developing spyware, have visited Israel more than once in recent months to negotiate with NSO. According to insiders with knowledge of the talks, it was possible for the companies to close a deal. In addition, the US intelligence services would have quietly agreed to the negotiations.
During discussions about the possible sale of NSO to L3 Harris, the US company’s representatives said they had received permission from the US government to negotiate with NSO. L3 Harris said US intelligence supported the takeover as long as certain conditions were met, The New York Times sources say. One of the conditions was that NSO’s overview of zero days can be sold to all partners in the Five Eyes partnership. These are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Talks continued in secret until last month, when information about the possible sale of NSO leaked. White House officials were reportedly outraged by the negotiations. They also allegedly said that the White House opposes attempts by US defense companies to buy a company that is on the blacklist. L3 Harris has since stopped the negotiation, writes The New York Times.
L3 Harris and NSO spokespersons declined to answer questions from the newspaper about the negotiations between the companies. US intelligence officials declined to say whether they agreed to the talks. A spokesperson for the Department of Commerce declined to provide details of any discussions with L3 Harris regarding the purchase of NSO.
The Israeli Defense Ministry also declined to comment.
The Pegasus software has been discredited several times in espionage cases where journalists, politicians and other public figures have been spied on using the spyware. However, US intelligence services would have previously expressed interest in Pegasus. For example, The Guardian wrote earlier this year that the FBI would have bought the controversial software to scrutinize it.