Ex-US envoy to Israel David Friedman tapped to head embattled spyware firm NSO Group

Israeli-founded cyber-hacking firm NSO Group, the maker of the controversial Pegasus software, appoints former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman as its new executive chairman.

The appointment comes as the embattled cyber espionage firm announces that a group of US investors assumed ownership of the group, and its three founders no longer hold any stake in the company. NSO was founded in 2010 by Israelis Shalev Hulio, Omri Lavie and Niv Karmi.

Friedman, who served as US ambassador to Israel during Donald Trump’s first White House term, spoke earlier to NSO employees at the group’s headquarters in Ramat Hasharon, emphasizing the critical role the company’s “technology plays in supporting governments in their efforts to combat terrorism and serious crime.”

“The researchers and engineers of NSO represent some of the most brilliant minds in Israel’s incredible high-tech industry,” Friedman tells NSO employees. “Notwithstanding the adverse attention often directed at the company – most of it unfair — you continue working around the clock to deliver advanced technologies to those whose mission is to protect the public and save lives.”

NSO’s Pegasus spyware software allows its users to remotely activate phones and extract their data. It has reportedly been used by repressive regimes to crack down on dissent, though NSO has been arguing that the spyware is sold only to “authorized governments,” after Israeli Defense Ministry approval, to fight terrorism. In 2021, the company was blacklisted by the US government for facilitating “transnational repression.”

NSO says that it will continue to operate from Israel under the full regulatory authority of the Defense Ministry, as it expands its global footprint and seeks to resume operations in the US.