Chairman of controversial NSO Group resigns

The chairman of the controversial NSO Group is leaving the company. The technology company has recently been criticized and became involved in a lawsuit with Apple. According to the outgoing chairman, this has nothing to do with his departure.

Chairman Asher Levi has left the NSO Group, the company confirmed to AP on Tuesday. According to Levi, his departure has nothing to do with the criticism the company is currently receiving: “I understand that people are making this connection, but my departure has nothing to do with the events that recently made the news”.

The former chairman is referring to the report that came out last week, which alleges that the Israeli police used the Pegasus spyware to spy on mayors in the country. It is not the first time that the company has been criticized for its controversial software, but the company has never before been discredited in this way in its own country.

Internationally, there has been a lot of talk about the spyware of the NSO Group for some time now. Tech giant Apple filed a lawsuit against the company last November. Apple wants court to ban NSO Group from using Apple hardware or software. The company launched the lawsuit after it emerged that the Pegasus software could penetrate Apple devices through a security vulnerability.

The Pegasus software is being used to track down criminals and terrorists, according to the NSO Group, but there is increasing evidence that the spyware is being used against journalists, politicians and dissidents. Israel had to restrict the export of the software last year.