FBI discovers that its own contractor used banned NSO spy software
The American FBI concludes in an investigation that it has indirectly used the banned spy software Landmark from NSO Group. The intelligence service had to find out who had purchased this software and it turned out to be a party employed by the FBI.
The New York Times wrote in April of this year that a body within the United States government had purchased the then recently banned Landmark software from the NSO Group. The FBI had to investigate who was responsible for this. Now writes the same newspaper that an FBI contractor, a third party called Riva Networks, was using the software on behalf of the intelligence community. The FBI was allegedly lied to in this process. The contract with Riva Networks was therefore terminated.
NSO Group’s spy tools were banned by the US government shortly before The New York Times originally discovered the incident. Government bodies, among others, are no longer allowed to use the Israeli software since earlier this year. Yet Riva Networks is said to have used the Landmark software to track down Mexican drug smugglers and fugitives. The FBI says it has not been informed about the use of the software in question.
Little is known about Riva Networks, which says it is a telecom company. The newspaper visited what was said to be the organization’s address, but the person who spoke to a journalist at that location said he knew nothing about the telecom company. The Riva Networks website is no longer accessible. The FBI did explain that such parties are sometimes called in to ‘receive technical assistance in tracking down fugitive criminals abroad’.
The Israeli spyware maker NSO Group has been a controversial entity for some time, mainly because of its offering of the Pegasus spy software. In any case, dozens of journalists and activists were spied on. Partly for this reason, the company was put on a blacklist in the United States, which means that organizations are only allowed to do business with the company with a special permit.