Khashoggi's widow to sue Israeli NSO for spying on her
3 Min Read
Khashoggi's widow intends to sue the Israeli NSO Group for using its Pegasus spyware to spy on her, causing her to "constantly be looking over her shoulder."
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People hold posters of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and light candles during a gathering outside Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 25, 2018. (AFP)
The widow of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is preparing to take "Israel's" NSO Group to court, accusing foreign governments of using the spyware to spy on her and forcing her into a “state of constant hyper-vigilance.”
Developed by the Israeli NSO Group, the Pegasus spyware, which can seize control of a smartphone's microphone and camera, hit global headlines when a leak in 2021 showed how governments used it to spy on critics, journalists, and NGOs.
Khashoggi's widow Hanan Elatr charges the NSO Group with negligence in selling its Pegasus spyware to adversarial foreign entities as well as breaking federal and Virginia hacking laws.
It is worth noting that the United States placed "Israel's" spyware maker NSO Group on its list of restricted companies in 2021.
A 2021 report exposed that an NSO client targeted Elatr just a few months before her husband’s murder between November 2017 and April 2018. Khashoggi was brutally killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October of that year.
Currently residing in the US where she is seeking political asylum, Elatr believes that there are two mobile phones, an iPad and a laptop that belonged to her husband, suspected to be in the hands of the Turkish authorities, that she wants to recover to support her case.
Elatr’s case divulged that the spyware “caused her immense harm, both through the tragic loss of her husband and through her own loss of safety, privacy, and autonomy, as well as the loss of her financial stability and career.”
“We found the smoking gun on her phone,” cybersecurity expert Bill Marczak said as quoted by The Post.
Apple and Facebook's owner Meta have both filed lawsuits against NSO Group for the usage of the Pegasus software on their products online.
It is worth noting that the Israeli-led spyware industry has been embroiled in a seemingly never-ending spate of extremely prominent controversies amid revelations that it is selling its spyware to governments around the world, that its products have been used to spy on journalists, activists, politicians, and even potentially world leaders, and accusations that it played a role in murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death have put it at the center of international criticism.
