Microsoft has called on the incoming Biden administration to weigh in on a high-profile legal case involving WhatsApp and NSO Group, the Israeli spyware firm that the US software company said was helping to proliferate cyber-weapons.
Comparing NSO Group to 21st-century mercenaries, Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, claimed that the rise of private companies that engineer cybersecurity attacks meant that an increasing number of nation-states could now deploy cyber-attacks – including against journalists and human rights activists.
“[This industry] generates cyber-attack proliferation to other governments that have the money but not the people to create their own weapons. In short, it adds another significant element to the cybersecurity threat landscape,” Smith said.
The comments represented the first time that any major US company – apart from WhatsApp – has spoken out against the use of private hacking companies by nation-states, an issue that for years has been seen primarily as a cause for concern of journalists, human rights activists, and other campaigners.
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Smith specifically cited litigation in the US between NSO Group and WhatsApp, the popular messaging app that has alleged in a US court that NSO Group’s spyware, called Pegasus, was used to target 1,400 of its users over a two-week period in 2019.
About 100 of the targets were members of civil society, including journalists, diplomats, senior government officials, and human rights campaigners, WhatsApp has claimed.
NSO Group has denied any involvement in the alleged targeting of civil society. The company has said that its government clients control how its software is used and that its products are only meant to be used to help law enforcement officials track down terrorists and criminals. It has said it investigates all allegations of abuse.
NSO Group declined to comment on Smith’s remarks.
The Israeli firm has argued in US litigation that it is, in effect, immune from US law against hacking because it acts on behalf of foreign governments. While a judge ruling on the case has largely dismissed the defense, NSO has appealed that decision to a higher appeals court.
Smith said Microsoft was joining other technology companies in “opposing this interpretation”. It is expected to formally do so in an amicus brief.
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“The Biden/Harris administration should weigh in with a similar view,” Smith said.
He added that he considered NSO Group’s “disconcerting” legal approach made it clear that domestic laws needed to “clearly and strongly” prohibit companies from allowing their software to help governments engage in “unlawful and offensive cyber-attacks and investors from financing them”.
He compared the proliferation of cyber-weapons to other “societally harmful activity”, such as human trafficking, narcotics, or terrorism. Much as governments ensure airlines don’t transport drugs or investors don’t finance the activity, Smith said they needed to ensure that “American and other investors don’t knowingly fuel the growth of this type of activity”.
One technology industry source suggested that Microsoft’s decision to join the fray was “very significant”, not only because of Smith’s reputation, but because it was a “massive signal” that the technology industry was not going to simply “stand by” amid mounting evidence of individuals being targeted by spyware.
“That has all sorts of implications for people who go work for these spyware companies. They may start to think twice that they may not be welcome at companies like Microsoft in the future,” the person claimed.
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