Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

No 10 accused of failing to act against states accused of NSO spyware abuses

No 10 accused of failing to act against states accused of NSO spyware abuses

Group of 10 MPs and peers say Boris Johnson’s government has prioritised trade over national security

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused by MPs of prioritising trade agreements over national security in its handling of surveillance abuses on British soil by governments using spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group.

A letter to the British prime minister signed by 10 MPs and peers has called on the government to end its cybersecurity programmes with countries that are known to have used NSO spyware to target dissidents, journalists and lawyers, among others, and to impose sanctions on NSO, “if they are at all serious about our national security”.

NSO is regulated by the Israeli defence ministry and sells its powerful Pegasus spyware to governments around the world. While the spyware is meant to be used by the governments to track criminals and terrorists, experts have documented dozens of cases in which NSO clients have abused the surveillance tool to use it against their own perceived enemies.

The letter was sent to Johnson as news broke in Israel that Isaac Benbenisti, who was serving as chief executive officer-designate of the company, had resigned, citing a decision by the Biden administration last week to place NSO on a US blacklist. Benbenisti, an NSO co-president, was named in the top role on 31 October but had yet to start. NSO declined to comment on the resignation.

Since 2019 researchers have documented a string of cases in which governments used NSO spyware to hack the phones of individuals in the UK. Targets whose phones were confirmed to have been hacked include Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, ex-wife of Dubai’s ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum; five of Haya’s lawyers, including Fiona Shackleton; the late Emirati activist Alaa Al-Siddiq; Bahraini activists living as refugees in the UK; and the Saudi satirist Ghanem Almasarir, a frequent critic of Saudi’s royal family. Governments who use the spyware against UK-based targets are believed to include the UAE and Bahrain. It has been reported that NSO no longer allows clients to target UK-based phone numbers.

“The UK government’s credibility has been shot to pieces by its handling of the NSO surveillance scandal – a credibility already damaged by their cybersecurity programmes with Gulf states implicated in human rights abuses,” said the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran. “Prioritising free trade deals with countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE must not mean handing them a blank cheque to commit abuses on UK soil with impunity.”

The Pegasus project, an investigation into NSO by a consortium of journalists led by the French non-profit Forbidden Stories, and which included the Guardian, found dozens of British mobile phone numbers on a leaked list of potential surveillance targets of NSO clients. They included Roula Khalaf, the editor of the Financial Times, and Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

It is not known whether Khalaf or Alwadaei’s phones were successfully hacked by governments using Pegasus, though forensic analysis of dozens of phones on the leaked list were later found to have been infected by the spyware or contained traces of it following analysis by Amnesty International’s security lab.

NSO has denied that the leaked list represents individuals who were targeted by its clients and has said it investigates credible allegations of abuse.

Alwadaei said that as someone whose mobile appeared on the Pegasus project list, it was difficult to describe the “pain of knowing that NSO’s malicious spyware may have put my family, loved ones and those who trusted me to defend their human rights at risk”.

He was equally shocked that the UK had not sought to censure those governments who have been accused of perpetrating the abuse and contrasted British policy with that of the Biden administration.

“The US has taken action and blacklisted this dangerous organisation; Boris Johnson should follow their example by sanctioning NSO and halting exports of surveillance equipment to abusive Gulf states,” he said.

Andy Slaughter, the Labour MP for Hammersmith, said: “The use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware by Gulf regimes against UK residents and nationals, including members of the House of Lords and refugees living under British protection, poses a threat to our national security and reveals the contempt with which our so-called allies in the Gulf view our laws. As well as immediately sanctioning NSO Group, the government must investigate the harms caused by these hacking operations and ensure consequences, starting with a fundamental reassessment of their relationship with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.”

In their letter, the MPs said the cyber-attacks represented “egregious breaches of domestic and international human rights law”, which prohibit “arbitrary or unlawful interference” with an individual’s correspondence.

“We are concerned that your government has failed to publicly condemn the actions of either NSO Group or the Saudi, Emirati, or Bahraini governments or take substantive action to protect UK nationals and residents, including those living under British protection as refugees, from cyber-attacks,” the letter stated.

It also called for the suspension of all UK spyware licences and cybersecurity contracts with Gulf nations implicated in cyber-attacks in the UK, namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, pending an independent investigation. Signatories include Brendan O’Hara, Paula Barker, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Richard Burgon, Martyn Day, Paul Scriven, Natalie Bennett and Jenny Jones.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×