from Sputnik News:
According to a report by the New York Times, a US government contractor that was revealed as having illegally and secretly used spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO Group was doing so as part of a contract with the FBI. The bureau now says it was lied to by the contractor.
Earlier this year, the Times revealed a government contractor called Riva Networks had secretly concluded a contract with NSO in November 2021, just days after the Biden administration banned US companies from buying NSO’s spyware. The ban came after it was revealed that one of NSO’s most popular products, Pegasus, was being abused around the globe by governments intent on spying on journalists, activists and political dissidents.
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However, this product was different: the program was called Landmark and could secretly transmit a cell phone’s GPS location to the program’s user. The NYT report claimed the contract explicitly mentioned it being deployed in Mexico.
After the paper’s report, an FBI investigation revealed it was actually the FBI that had contracted Riva Networks and the bureau canceled the contract.
The FBI has reportedly claimed Riva Networks misled the bureau. One FBI official who spoke with the outlet said the FBI thought Riva was using a geolocation tool it had developed itself, and didn’t know about Landmark being an NSO product.
Riva apparently didn’t care much for the Biden administration’s attempts to block the use of NSO spyware by the US government and its contractors, either: not only did the company ignore NSO being put on a Commerce Department blacklist five days before concluding the contract with NSO, it kept using the Landmark tool into 2023.
The contract was signed using a fake name for the company as well as for its CEO, Robin Gamble, according to the outlet, which reported the company was referred to as “Cleopatra Holdings” and Gamble as “William Malone.” It had reportedly used the same pseudonyms to buy Pegasus from the NSO Group.
In a statement, the federal law enforcement bureau revealed it had been using Landmark to track suspected fugitives in Mexico.
“As part of our mission, the FBI is tasked with locating fugitives around the world who are charged in US courts, including for violent crimes and drug trafficking,” the agency said. “To accomplish this, the FBI regularly contracts with companies who can provide technological assistance to locate these fugitives who are hiding abroad.”
“The FBI has not employed foreign commercial spyware in these or any other operational endeavors. This geolocation tool did not provide the FBI access to an actual device, phone or computer. We will continue to lawfully utilize authorized tools to protect Americans and bring criminals to justice,” the statement continued.
