(Jerusalem) Israel has been asking countries that buy its computer technology since Monday to commit to using it only to fight “terrorism and serious crime,” after the Pegasus spyware affair.
“The definitions of serious crimes and terrorist acts have been refined in order to avoid blurring the borders,” the Military Export Control Agency, which reports to the Israeli Defense Ministry, said in a statement.
On Monday, the agency updated the “end-user declaration” that any state must sign to acquire Israeli computer products for information and intelligence gathering.
According to the latter, these are, among other things, “acts which aim to threaten a population and can lead to death, injuries, hostage-taking”.
The declaration also mentions in which cases it is forbidden to use a computer system, but also the sanctions against countries that violate these rules.
“The State of Israel will have the right, at any time, to revoke or suspend the export license which may lead to the shutdown of the system, or to impose limitations on its use,” said the document consulted by the ‘AFP.
Israeli cybersecurity group NSO found itself exposed this summer after investigations published by a consortium of 17 international media outlets revealing that its Pegasus software could have spied on the numbers of journalists, politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron, activists and business leaders from different countries.
Once installed in a mobile phone, Pegasus allows access to messaging and user data, but also to activate the device remotely for the purpose of capturing sound or images.
Pegasus software can only be sold to states, and such sales must be approved by a special committee of the Israeli Defense Ministry responsible for approving arms sales.
According to the Washington Post daily and Reuters, Pegasus has been used to infiltrate the smartphones of at least nine State Department employees based in Uganda or working primarily on issues related to East Africa.
In early November, the United States blacklisted NSO for companies threatening state security