After all "...the DEA has demonstrated it’s willing to throw tax dollars at other Israeli malware companies formed by former Israeli intelligence agents, apparently assuming international criticism lightning won’t strike twice, as 9to5Mac reports, citing earlier reporting by the Financial Times.
Locked Out Of NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware, DEA Purchases Exploits From Its Non-Union, Israeli Equivalent
from the pegasus,-paragon:-tomato,-tomahto dept
First off, let’s just clear one thing up: the headline is a Simpson’s reference, not a dog whistle aimed at unions and/or the Jewish population of Israel.
The administration can blacklist, criticize, and strongly suggest federal agencies not do business with shady exploit hawkers. None of these things will have an effect on the DEA, which will continue to do what it wants because Congress as a whole is too cowardly to sign off on anything indicating the agency has done more harm than good since its inception.
With NSO Group (and one of its prominent competitors) currently blacklisted by the US Commerce Department, the DEA must search elsewhere for phone exploits. But it’s not willing to search elsewhere, much less hold off for just a bit to make sure its newest malware partner isn’t just another NSO — a company stockpiling accelerants and dumpsters in hopes of setting its own reputation on fire within the next few months or years.
Instead, the DEA has demonstrated it’s willing to throw tax dollars at other Israeli malware companies formed by former Israeli intelligence agents, apparently assuming international criticism lightning won’t strike twice, as 9to5Mac reports, citing earlier reporting by the Financial Times.
The US government banned the use of NSO’s Pegasus spyware 18 months ago, but a new report today says that at least one government agency is using very similar malware from a rival company: Paragon Graphite.
Graphite reportedly has the same capabilities as Pegasus, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is said to be using it …
The Financial Times report (paywalled) contains more details. But the details are unsurprising.
According to four of those people, the US Drug Enforcement and Administration Agency is among the top customers for Paragon’s signature product nicknamed Graphite.
The malware surreptitiously pierces the protections of modern smartphones and evades the encryption of messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp, sometimes harvesting the data from cloud backups — much like Pegasus does.
Paragon was set up by Ehud Schneorson, the retired commander of Unit 8200, the Israeli army’s elite signals intelligence arm. According to people familiar with the company, which includes ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak on its board, has secured investment from two US-based venture capital firms, Battery Ventures and Red Dot.
Locked out of securing contracts with the disgraced NSO Group, the DEA has decided to go with its closest analogue. It’s another Israeli malware company selling a product that has the same amount of syllables (Paragon) as NSO’s flagship exploit, Pegasus. All that’s missing is a couple of years of negative press coverage.
And that’s good enough for the DEA, which will undoubtedly weather yet another scandal once it’s shown Paragon is no more trustworthy than NSO.
- We have yet to see an Israeli exploit developer formed by former Israeli intelligence officers steer clear of scandal.
- While it’s true these former government employees are good at their job (as far as exploit development is concerned), they seem universally unwilling to prevent the world from becoming a worse place to live.
- Universally, these companies court and cater to known human rights abusers, providing them with powerful tools to further their evil aims.
If there’s anything positive to glean from this reporting, it’s this: Paragon — at least for the moment — is steering clear of selling to the many of the known human rights abusers NSO Group catered to. But everyone has to turn a profit — especially companies beholden to foreign investors. And while US investors certainly don’t want to be linked to human rights abuses, they also want to see a return on their investment, which might mean Paragon will be expected to start selling to the countries that want these exploits the most… which are also the ones most willing to target journalists, activists, opposition leaders, and anyone sympathizing with those being targeted."
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USA bandisce Pegasus di NSO, ma acquista software spia Paragon Graphite
empo di lettura: 2 minuti.
(Introduzione) Circa 18 mesi fa, il governo degli Stati Uniti ha vietato l’uso del software spia Pegasus di NSO Group. Nonostante ciò, un nuovo rapporto afferma che almeno un’agenzia governativa sta utilizzando un malware molto simile proveniente da un’azienda concorrente: Paragon Graphite.
USA bandisce Pegasus di NSO, ma acquista software spia Paragon Graphite
Tempo di lettura: 2 minuti.Il software spia Pegasus di NSO Group è stato bandito dagli Stati Uniti, tuttavia, una nuova indagine rivela che un’agenzia governativa sta utilizzando un malware molto simile prodotto da un concorrente, Paragon Graphite.
Pegasus: da arma di sorveglianza a minaccia per la sicurezza nazionale
NSO Group produce un software spia chiamato Pegasus, venduto a governi e agenzie di law enforcement. Questo software è in grado di sfruttare vulnerabilità zero-day (ovvero vulnerabilità sconosciute ad Apple) acquistate da hacker, rendendo possibile lanciare attacchi zero-click, ovvero attacchi che non richiedono alcuna interazione da parte dell’utente bersaglio. Basta ricevere un determinato iMessage per consentire a un iPhone di essere compromesso, con i dati personali dell’utente esposti.
Nel 2021, il governo degli Stati Uniti ha dichiarato questo spyware una minaccia per la sicurezza nazionale, vietandone l’uso all’interno del paese sia da organizzazioni pubbliche che private. Il Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) del Dipartimento del Commercio ha aggiunto la società israeliana alla Entity List, vietando l’importazione, l’esportazione o il trasferimento dei prodotti dell’azienda all’interno degli Stati Uniti.
Governo USA utilizza Paragon Graphite
Nonostante il divieto su Pegasus, un rapporto del Financial Times sostiene che il governo degli Stati Uniti utilizza un software spia quasi identico: Graphite di Paragon. Secondo fonti dell’industria, l’Agenzia per la lotta alla droga (DEA) degli Stati Uniti è tra i principali clienti del prodotto di punta di Paragon, soprannominato Graphite.
Questo malware penetra subdolamente le protezioni degli smartphone moderni ed elude la crittografia di app di messaggistica come Signal o WhatsApp, raccogliendo talvolta i dati dai backup su cloud – proprio come fa Pegasus.
La DEA non ha rilasciato commenti diretti, ma è stato affermato che l’agenzia ha acquistato Graphite per l’utilizzo da parte dei partner di law enforcement in Messico nella lotta ai cartelli della droga.'
Filed Under: dea, malware, spyware
Companies: nso group, paragon graphite
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