Pegasus-Maker Calls Criticism "Hypocritical", Says US Blacklisting To End
NDTV
The NSO Group CEO's remark came a day after a media report claimed India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a $2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017.
Israel's embattled cyber tech company NSO Group has denied wrongdoing as it called criticism of its sale of Pegasus spyware programme to non-democratic countries "hypocritical," comparing the surveillance technology to military weapons systems being sold by others, amid mounting allegations that software was misused globally, including in Israel.
An undeterred Chief Executive Officer of NSO Group, Shalev Hulio, in an interview to Israeli Channel 12 on Saturday, strongly defended the company's operations, though he also conceded that some "mistakes" may have happened over the years.
"I absolutely sleep soundly at night," Hulio told the channel's interviewer when asked if he can do so amid so much worldwide criticism.
Hulio's interview came a day after a New York Times report on Friday claimed that India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a $2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017, triggering a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to "treason".