NSO Group owner: “We will appeal, justice was not served.”
NSO Group co-founder and majority owner Omri Lavie breaks silence amid legal battles and anticipated US policy shift under Trump.
NSO Group co-founder and chairman of the board Omri Lavie, who emerged as the new majority owner of the Israeli spyware vendor in 2023, gave a rare interview to Israeli media on 24 December.
The interview, conducted on tech entrepreneur Aviv Frenkel’s weekly podcast, comes after a recent US judge’s ruling that found NSO Group liable for hacking into the phones of 1,400 WhatsApp users and before Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House, which is expected to lead to a relaxation of cybersecurity regulations and a diminished emphasis on human rights concerns.
On the US judge ruling in favour of WhatsApp Lavie said:
“[The judge] wanted a variety of things, including the source code of Pegasus. Of course, this is something we cannot share for a thousand reasons, the most important of which is the Israeli regulator. The Ministry of Defense does not allow such a thing to happen, and rightly so.”
“This is a technical victory, and at the end of March, a jury will decide on the damages. We will have to wait and see what comes of it. Of course, we will appeal. I believe that justice was not served. I'll just say that we have been sued several times in the United States and we won all the lawsuits. In fact, this is the last lawsuit - of course it is the biggest and hardest to deal with - but at least in my eyes, it's far from a complete victory for Meta. Certainly, it doesn't prove that we did anything wrong, because we really didn't.”
He continued:
“It's definitely not fair; it's David and Goliath. Let me remind you that from Meta’s perspective, they are suing us for media attention. This is a company that has faced a lot of criticism and is still facing it. Criticism against the fact that it violates the privacy of over a billion users on a daily basis. Billions, to be exact. Yeah, sure, cross-platform. It's a company not exactly known for its love of privacy. They know how to set fire to a company that is obscure - and I will also say: Israeli - which definitely makes it easier for them. Because, there is also the anti-Israeli element”
On the recent acquisition of Israeli spyware vendor Paragon Solutions, a competitor to NSO Group, by US investment group AE Industrial Partners, that is still pending regulatory approval Lavie said:
“I hope that, like NSO, also Paragon will remain an Israeli company despite the [US] control. This is important also for the [Israeli] state. [Paragon] is not an ordinary company like any other high-tech company; it also has national patriotic aspects. So of course, I really wish them success. I hope that the deal will actually go through as they expect. And I think you know their success is our success.”
In November 2021, the US Commerce Department added NSO Group to its Entity List, significantly limiting its access to US technology and business. Many expect that Donald Trump will reverse NSO’s US-blacklisting. Omri Lavie said:
“[The Americans], when they say “blacklist,” it sounds much more dramatic to me than it actually is. In practice, we are on the list of Commerce, and what this does for us from a regulatory perspective, it simply forces American companies, if we want to buy technology from them, they need to ask for permission to sell us the technology. That's all. You can still do business in the United States, it is definitely not a barrier for us to sell in the US. The United States, it's currently not our main focus. But yes, there is no [obstacle].”
On regaining control of NSO Group Lavie said:
“[It has been] a very challenging period. I had an opportunity to let [the company] go or to try and bring it back to its greatness. I chose the latter. I believe very much in the company, in its importance, in its capabilities, in the amazing people that surround it and take care of it daily.”
“I strongly believe that what we are doing is important and essential both for the State of Israel and for the world. I know, that might sound a bit dramatic, but it's the truth. There are many places in the world that have been transformed thanks to this technology, and when this opportunity arose to try and make this change - I admit it was a dilemma - but in the end, I decided to take it.”
Note: This report was produced with the assistance of automated translation tools.
I am a Melbourne-based journalist regularly contributing to WIRED and focusing on the commercial spyware industry. My recent work prompted the Biden administration to pause a $2 million contract of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with spyware vendor Paragon Solutions and subject it to a compliance review under Executive Order 14093, which restricts the government’s use of spyware.