Depositions: NSO Group, Not Government Clients, Operates Its Spyware

ReportDepositions: NSO Group, Not Government Clients, Operates Its Spyware

Published NOV 15 2024

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Image copyright: Omar Marques/Contributor/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Spin

Spyware companies like NSO have led to justified public backlash, but that shouldn't result in an outright ban on these technologies. While Western governments are at the forefront of the fight to restrain malicious spyware schemes, they also need access to these tools to combat adversarial regimes and nonstate actors, especially terrorists. International treaties are already being built to ensure a happy medium, which is the path the world should stick to.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The US government has been on the right track over the last four years, from Pres. Biden's blacklisting of NSO Group to Congress requiringrequires incident reporting regulations. However, the incoming Trump adminstrationadministration appears to be extremely friendly with Israel, which means these bans and regulations could go out the window come January. Protecting sovereign citizens from the prying eyes of intel agencies and private firms should be a bipartisan effort.

Wired

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 7% chance that a major cyberattack, virus, worm, etc. that uses LLMs in some important way will occur before January 1st, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.