WASHINGTON (JTA) — Six people who have challenged an Israeli spyware firm have been targeted by people using false identities in an apparent attempt to extract information and elicit embarrassing statements, a report said.
The Associated Press in a report Monday listed three lawyers who have challenged NSO Group in courts for selling its spyware to alleged human rights abusers, two cybersecurity researchers, and a journalist. The attempted stings have taken place in Europe and North America.
The people using false identities to set up meetings with the targets tried to find out more about their cases against NSO and extract embarrassing, bigoted statements.
The two cybersecurity researchers work for Citizen Lab, which first uncovered the NSO hack that allegedly can take over a target’s smartphone.
One of the operatives assuming a false identity has been identified as Aharon Almog-Assouline, a former Israeli security official.
It’s not clear who is running the stings.
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