Amazon.com Inc’s cloud service,
(AWS), cut off web hosting services for Israeli technology firm NSO Group following allegations that the firm was involved in the surveillance of activists and journalists.
The investigation revealed that Pegasus, NSO’s spyware product, may have been installed on the mobile devices of several journalists and activists.
The spyware accounted for 37 attempted and successful hacks of smartphones. It was deployed by regimes often characterized as repressive, such as Hungary and Azerbaijan. According to the Amnesty statement, targets included women close to Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist murdered in October 2018.
An
spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement:When we learned of this activity, we acted quickly to shut down the relevant infrastructure and accounts.
However, Amazon didn’t clear immediately whether the accounts were related to NSO Group.
Amazon Web Services, which offers paid cloud computing services, has shut down infrastructure and accounts that were linked to the Israeli spyware firm, NSO Group.
This is the first time that Amazon has addressed the use of its technology by NSO.https://t.co/Rt0EkaHjs8
— The Wire (@thewire_in) July 20, 2021
Amnesty further specified in the analysis:
The use of cloud services protects NSO Group from some Internet scanning techniques.
NSO Group issued a statement to several media organizations, denying these allegations. It has claimed that it reviews its clients’ human rights thoroughly. It also told the Washington Post that they have already canceled contracts with two customers over human rights abuses.
Back in May 2020, VICE had once again reported on NSO using
to deploy spyware. At the time, the firm allegedly uploaded its hacking software on mobile devices through the impersonation of a Facebook security team.
