The president of the American technology giant attacks the offensive cyber companies and mentions, among others, the Israeli NSO. NSO: “Join Microsoft’s call for sustainable global policies to help countries defend against cyberattacks”
NSO Management. Source: PR
The cyber attacks that have been felt here in cyber, such as the attack on Shirbit, Amital or the Bana Labs computers purchased by Intel, look like a trip to the garden compared to the huge cyber attack experienced by many organizations that have worked with SolarWinds. The attack, which affected hundreds of organizations and included computers by the US administration, also reached Microsoft computers – which led the company’s president to publish a blog on the subject in which, among other things, he attacks the Israeli offensive cyber maker NSO Group.
“Mercenaries of the 21st Century”
In a scathing post, Brad Smith came out against private cyber companies, such as NSO – which he also mentions by name, claiming that she and private cyber companies are like “21st century mercenaries”. Smith said the phenomenon of private cyber companies has become so great that they have already created a new category of activity.
In the part that the president of Microsoft dedicates to NSO, he writes that this is an Israeli company that is also in legal proceedings in the US (the legal battle with Facebook, AA) and the fact that the company created and sells offensive cyber tools called Pegasus. Smith also notes that the tool, which can be installed on smartphones by voice call on WhatsApp, has been used by NSO more than 1,400 times to gain access to devices – according to WhatsApp’s claim in the lawsuit against the Israeli company.
“NSO represents the great encounters between sophisticated technology from the private sector and state-backed attackers,” Smith writes, adding that according to a body study at the University of Toronto, the tools of the Israeli cyber company have been used in more than 100 cases of human rights abuses. Human rights and journalists.
Smith notes that NSO is only part of a broader phenomenon and that the private offensive cyber companies market, which is considered relatively new, is rolling in no less than $ 12 billion. Smith further writes that NSO and other companies in this new sector represent a new option for countries to build or buy the tools needed for sophisticated cyber attacks.
“If there has ever been a constant in the software world in the last 50 years, it is that the amount of money is always greater than the amount of talent. This segment (offensive cyber companies, AA) that helps cyber attacks is bad news on two fronts: it increases the attack capabilities of state-funded hackers and produces cyber-armament capabilities for countries that have the money but not the people to create the weapons. These, ”Smith wrote.
In a post, Smith referred to the wave of cyber attacks on US government offices and attributed to elements in Russia. The attacks were carried out by introducing a Trojan horse to the update of SolarWinds software – IT software used by all the attackers – with Russian hackers estimated to be behind these attacks (as also assessed in the attack on FireEye computers).
Smith cites three reasons, in his view, for the rise in cyberattacks: the rise in the determination and sophistication of nation-state-backed hacker groups; Another reason is what Smith defines as the “junction between the cyber attacks and the corona plague” – this despite a slight halt with the outbreak of the plague in March; Finally, the last reason presented by the President of Microsoft is the privatization of the cyber sector and the rise of offensive cyber companies such as the Israeli NSO.
NSO said in response to Smith’s statement: “As the first company in the world to lead the formulation and adoption of regulatory principles and compliance policies in the field, we join Microsoft’s calls for a comprehensive global policy that will enable countries to defend themselves against irresponsible cyberattacks.”
Oshri Alexelsi
Your Friendly Neighborhood Geek. Do you have a technological story? Talk to me: [email protected]
