This archive report was first published on 20 July 2019.
On July 19, 2019, the Financial Times of London reported that NSO Group had told buyers that its Pegasus technology can surreptitiously scrape all of an individual's data from the servers of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft.
However, in a written statement to AFP's request for comment, NSO denied the allegation, stating that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of NSO, its services, and technology.
NSO's products do not provide the type of collection capabilities and access to cloud applications, services, or infrastructure as listed and suggested in today's FT article, the statement read.
The report had insinuated that its Pegasus software could reach beyond what is stored within the phone into connected cloud-based storage.
Such a capability would enable owners of the Pegasus hacking tool to see a target's full location history, archived messages or photos, and other key pieces of data previously hidden from view.
NSO was also believed to be behind the hack of Facebook's WhatsApp some few months ago, whereby users were urged to upgrade to the latest version of the messaging app following reports that they could be vulnerable to having malicious spyware installed on their phones without their knowledge.
When contacted by AFP, Amazon and Google said they were looking into the matter and that investigations had been launched into the matter.
They also encouraged users to use tools like their Security Checkup, 2-step verification, and their Advanced Protection Program, if they believe they may be at especially high risk of attack.
