NSO denies leaked target list linked to its spyware: ‘Insinuations and slander’

Amid allegations its spyware was used to target journalists and politicians, Israeli firm NSO Group denies being engaged in mass surveillance, calling the allegations against it “insinuations and slander.”

“False allegations have been published against us that ignore the facts,” the company says in a statement announcing that it won’t not be responding to further requests to comment on the claims. “We will not play the game of insinuations and slander.”

NSO claims an “orchestrated campaign is being carried out against us.”

The statement came after a list was leaked of some 50,000 phone numbers believed to have been chosen by clients of NSO for possible surveillance, according to an international reporting effort. The list contained numbers for 14 heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

“The list is not a list of Pegasus’s current or potential targets,” the company says, adding that “any claim that any name on the list is necessarily related to Pegasus is wrong and false.”