Israeli security company reportedly has tool that spies on Apple, Google and Facebook cloud data

Authors: Kate Fazzini and Annie Palmer

• A Financial Times report details allegations that an Israel-based cybersecurity company has developed spyware that can scrape data from the servers of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft products.

• NSO Group denies that it markets software capable of capturing data in the cloud.

• The company was behind a WhatsApp flaw discovered in May that allowed its software to be downloaded to phones through a simple phone call.

An Israeli cybersecurity company has developed spyware that can scrape data from the servers of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft products, according to The Financial Times.
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The report says NSO Group’s proprietary smartphone malware, Pegasus, harvests not only data stored on a device, but also any information stored in the cloud, including a user’s location data, archived messages and photos.

NSO Group, who previously installed malware in Facebook’s WhatsApp, denied that it markets software capable of capturing data in the cloud. It’s unclear if it has developed the tools internally.

“The Financial Times got it wrong. NSO’s products do not provide the type of collection capabilities and access to cloud applications, services, or infrastructure suggested in this article,” the company told CNBC in a statement.

“Increasingly sophisticated terrorists and criminals are taking advantage of encrypted technologies to plan and conceal their crimes, leaving intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the dark and putting public safety and national security at risk. NSO’s lawful interception products are designed to confront this challenge.”

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