Israeli firm’s spyware reportedly used to hack State employees
WASHINGTON — The phones of 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked with spyware from Israel’s NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire company, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
The employees were all located in Uganda and included some foreign service officers, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. Some local Ugandan employees of the department appear to have been among the 11 hacked, the person said.
The hacking is the first known instance of NSO Group’s trademark Pegasus spyware being used against U.S. government personnel.
It was not known what individual or entity used the NSO technology to hack into the accounts, or what information was sought.
“We have been acutely concerned that commercial spyware like NSO Group software poses a serious counterintelligence and security risk to U.S. personnel,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at briefing Friday.
News of the hacks, which was first reported by Reuters, comes a month after the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted NSO Group, barring U.S. technology from being used by the company. And Apple sued NSO Group last week seeking to effectively shut down its hacking of all iPhones and other Apple products, calling the Israeli company “amoral 21st century mercenaries.”
The State Department employees were hacked on their iPhones, the person familiar with the matter said.
NSO Group said in a statement that after being asked Thursday about the Ugandan phones “we immediately shut down all the customers potentially relevant to this case,” but did not say who the customers were. The company said its spying technology is blocked from hacking phones based in the U.S. and is only sold to licensed customers.
If the allegations turn out to be true “they are a blunt violation” of contract terms and NSO Group “will take legal action against these customers,” it added.
Taliban ban forced marriage:
The Taliban decreed on Friday they were banning forced marriage of women in Afghanistan, a move apparently meant to address criteria the international community consider a precondition to recognizing their government and restoring aid to the war-torn country.
The move was announced by the reclusive Taliban chief, Hibatullah Akhunzada, a cleric chosen as the group’s supreme leader who is believed to be in the southern city of Kandahar. It comes as poverty is surging in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in August amid the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. Since then, foreign governments have halted funds that had been a mainstay of the economy.
“Both (women and men) should be equal,” said the decree, adding that “no one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure.”
Women’s rights improved markedly over the past two decades of international presence in Afghanistan, but are seen as under threat with the return of the Taliban, who during their earlier rule in the 1990s virtually cloistered women, banned
them from public life and access to education.
Nobel winner cleared to travel:
The Court of Appeals in the Philippines said on Friday that it would allow the journalist Maria Ressa to travel to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after the government tried to block her from attending the ceremony.
Ressa’s lawyer, Ted Te, filed the appeal last month for his client after the Philippines’ solicitor general said the journalist could not travel to Norway. The government called her a flight risk because her “recurring criticisms of the Philippine legal processes in the international community reveal her lack of respect for the judicial system.”
Ressa was awarded the peace prize in October along with Dmitri Muratov, a Russian investigative journalist, for “their courageous fight for freedom of expression.”
Ressa, the first Nobel laureate from the Philippines, is the chief executive officer of Rappler, a digital news organization that is well-known for its investigations on disinformation and of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal five-year drug war.
Iran nuclear talks: Diplomats negotiating in Vienna to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have paused after five days of talks to consult with their governments and will reconvene next week, officials said Friday.
The European Union official chairing the meeting said there had been some progress, but further “convergence” was necessary.
“We have identified the challenges ahead. Now it is time to consult with capitals,” EU diplomat Enrique Mora told reporters. “We will be resuming here in Vienna next week.”
The so-called Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, has effectively been on life support since the United States pulled out under then-President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against
Tehran in 2018.
France arms deal: France announced multibillioneuro deals Friday to sell fighter planes and combat helicopters to the United Arab Emirates, aiming to boost military cooperation with its top ally in the Persian Gulf amid their shared concerns about Iran.
The UAE is buying 80 upgraded Rafale warplanes in a deal the French Defense Ministry said is worth 16 billion euros ($18 billion) and represents the largest-ever French weapons contract for export. It also announced a deal with the UAE to sell 12 Airbus-built combat helicopters.
They offer a shot in the arm for France’s defense
industry after the collapse of a $66 billion contract for Australia to buy 12 French submarines that ultimately went to the U.S. But the deals faced criticism by human rights groups concerned about the UAE’s involvement in the yearslong war in Yemen.
Honda recalls: Honda is recalling nearly 725,000 SUVs and pickup trucks because the hoods can open while the vehicles are moving.
The recall covers certain 2019 Passports, 2016 through 2019 Pilots and 2017 through 2020 Ridgeline pickups.
Honda says in documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators that the hood latch striker can become damaged and separate from the hood.
Dealers will either repair the striker or replace the hood if necessary at no cost to owners.
Honda will notify owners by letter starting Jan. 17.