Gulf Monarchies Make “Israel’s” Wishes Come True: NSO Sold Spyware to UAE, Other Gulf States

NSO is one of the most active “Israeli” companies in the Gulf, and its Pegasus 3 software permits law enforcement authorities to hack into cellphones, copy their contents and sometimes even to control their camera and audio recording capabilities. The company’s vulnerability researchers work to identify security threats and can hack into mobile devices independently [without the aid of an unsuspecting user, who, for example, clicks on a link].

NSO has a team that works with Gulf States, and all of its members have foreign passports. Every Gulf state has a nickname based on the first letter of the country’s name and an automotive manufacture: Saudi Arabia is called Subaru, Bahrain is BMW and Jordan is Jaguar. The practice within NSO is to use these names rather than the country’s real name.

According to intelligence obtained by Haaretz, in the past few years NSO has signed contracts with Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Ras Al-Khaimah. 

During meetings in the Gulf, company representatives often illustrated their software’s hacking capabilities by using cellphones they brought for the purpose. From conversations with company employees, it is clear that Gulf officials were very excited about the technology, and one contract was signed for $250 million.

NSO invests great efforts into the Gulf States because of the oil-rich countries’ deep pockets. “A product that you sell in Europe for $10 million you can sell in the Gulf for 10 times that,” said one person familiar with NSO’s financial activity.