Israel plans to tighten supervision of cyber exports

JERUSALEM » Israel’s Defense Ministry on Monday announced that it was tightening supervision over cyber exports — a move that follows a series of scandals involving Israeli spyware company NSO Group.

The ministry said the countries purchasing Israeli cyber technology would have to sign a declaration pledging to use the products “for the investigation and prevention of terrorist acts and serious crimes only.”

It said countries that violate the terms of use could be subject to sanctions, “including limiting the cyber system and/ or disconnecting it.”

The announcement made no mention of NSO. But it came just days after it was revealed that 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked with NSO spyware.