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The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

arstechnica.com

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Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#131

Post by dragonelite »

adventured wrote: post #65
motohagiography wrote: post #16

I commented previously that the Uganda case was the first truly legitimate application of NSO's tech and the first one that wasn't actually a scandal, as it was by a state without a mature domestic intelligence capability going to market to buy tools of one, to spy on actual spies in its borders. It seems this particular NSO case is being used as bargaining leverage to discredit Israel's position in the Iran nuclear…

> as it was by a state without a mature domestic intelligence capability going to market to buy tools of one, to spy on actual spies in its borders How do you intend to support your claim that the 11 US diplomats and employees from the US embassy are spies (and thus are supposedly legitimate targets in your view)? Nowhere does it say US spies were the targets. And no other story on this subject has presented evidence…

There's this joke people say the only reason the US doesn't have regime change factions is because it doesn't have a US embassy.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#132

Post by oasisbob »

ciabattabread wrote: post #63
oasisbob wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having spent some time with OCR and scanning recently, I'd have to agree. A lot of news articles are describing JBIG2 as something archaic, when it seems to be as relevant and commonplace as ever. (see MRC, for a modern application)

The article was originally written for Financial Times, whose audience will have a general knowledge of computing. Also, what the heck is MRC?

News articles, plural. Eg, here is another story by way of Ars:

> Essentially, 1990's algorithms used in photocopying and scanning compression are still lurking in modern communication software, with all of the flaws and baggage that come with them.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/12/googl...

Given than JBIG2 wasn't standardized until 2000, and that the Apple vulnerability was in their implementation (vs the standard) I just don't understand this characterization.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#133

Post by user-the-name »

pzo wrote: post #79
profstasiak wrote: post #14

Right now we have mini crisis in Poland connected with this US/NSO war. One prosecutor, who is fighting for indepenend judiciary and against her political boss, head prosecutor Minister of Justice, smaller party Coalition member, got notification her iPhone has been hacked multiple time by Pegasus. She angried the rulling coalition, after she wanted to investigate illegal vote by mail election, that didnt take place…

There is such a polarization right now in Poland between society that let's maybe don't put politics here. I don't like both the opposition and the ruling party but I try to at least read both sides of the story. You are definitely presenting very biased point of view here

This attitude is how democracy dies.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#134

Post by Scoundreller »

lainga wrote: post #68
Scoundreller wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shhhh, don’t tell them about the n in nanpa. But given the number of countries under nanpa, I bet they filter at the area code level. Can’t turn away that sweet Dominican Republic opportunity. How does data work if you get NSO’d? There’s gotta be some Canadians facing massive mobile phone bills because of NSO shenanigans.

I think you mean NANP, nanpa is somewhat different...

Nanpa is the administrator of nanp

https://nationalnanpa.com/

But from what I can see, nanpa is also a Japanese word for something that sounds like random approaches on women in malls, etc. for dating. I forget the term in English.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#135

Post by fortran77 »

danny_codes wrote: post #121
fortran77 wrote: post #115

You would think Apple, the company that makes the platform which enables all this, would be held accountable too. But people turn a blind eye to their false claims of a secure platform.

If I leave my bike locked up outside my office and come back to find it's been stolen with a handheld circular saw, I don't see how that's my fault. I implemented a reasonable level of security, but there's not much I can do against a circular saw. iOS is massive. Operating systems are massive, from an attack-surface perspective. NSO is hiring out of the Israeli intelligence pool: these are among the best security en…

Apple advertises it as "secure by design."

See: https://www.apple.com/business/docs/site/AAW_Platform_Securi...

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#136

Post by Thorrez »

Sporktacular wrote: post #98

“We always knew this thing had an expiration date,” (Hulio) told the friend" This was clearly the plan all along. Such companies live and die by their low profiles. Was probably not the founders' first such company nor will it be their last. Next step will be to close up, take the contacts, clients, capital, the lessons learned and the cream of the staff to whatever mercenary, unethical piece of crap they make next.…

> It'll mean going after the owners, suppliers and employees

Facebook banned all NSO employees from Facebook. The Israeli courts forced Facebook to unban them.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3837077...

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#137

Post by Sporktacular »

post_from_work wrote: post #112
Sporktacular wrote: post #98

“We always knew this thing had an expiration date,” (Hulio) told the friend" This was clearly the plan all along. Such companies live and die by their low profiles. Was probably not the founders' first such company nor will it be their last. Next step will be to close up, take the contacts, clients, capital, the lessons learned and the cream of the staff to whatever mercenary, unethical piece of crap they make next.…

"This is why killing the industry as a whole is so important. It'll mean going after the owners, suppliers and employees/contractors with naming/shaming, coordinated sanctions, criminal charges, designated persons lists etc. until their reputations are trash. No bank would fund it, no parters would supply it and no one with any talent would ever contemplate such a catastrophic career move in future." And no governmen…

Why? They'll still be put to use. Just not via a for profit industry creating an arms race between middling powers.

If anything it will make recruitment by significant governments easier.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#138

Post by Sporktacular »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #126
Sporktacular wrote: post #98

“We always knew this thing had an expiration date,” (Hulio) told the friend" This was clearly the plan all along. Such companies live and die by their low profiles. Was probably not the founders' first such company nor will it be their last. Next step will be to close up, take the contacts, clients, capital, the lessons learned and the cream of the staff to whatever mercenary, unethical piece of crap they make next.…

The industry being comprehensively destroyed: that won't happen. Too useful to the wannabe masters of the world in the CIA and other intelligence agencies, and, well, I guess the true "richest people in the world": despot leaders of large economies. A better question is that while these companies are basically cyber weapons companies, what do the truly big players have: the US and China? We got a glimpse with the vir…

Why not? Mercenary tech didn't exist 15 years ago, so it's not like an industry is needed to create useful state hackers. Top talent would just continue to be nurtured in-house in more accountable government agencies.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#139

Post by AtlasBarfed »

Sporktacular wrote: post #138
AtlasBarfed wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The industry being comprehensively destroyed: that won't happen. Too useful to the wannabe masters of the world in the CIA and other intelligence agencies, and, well, I guess the true "richest people in the world": despot leaders of large economies. A better question is that while these companies are basically cyber weapons companies, what do the truly big players have: the US and China? We got a glimpse with the vir…

Why not? Mercenary tech didn't exist 15 years ago, so it's not like an industry is needed to create useful state hackers. Top talent would just continue to be nurtured in-house in more accountable government agencies.

These are just like any other weapons manufacturer, really.

Top talent will make way more in private firms, it's the only way to make a ton of money. Government pay is basically capped. The government pay also encourages the government employees to hire contractors, because that's how you get side benefits (not bribes! tooootallly not bribes), like ultra cushy jobs for relatives, a "consulting" job once you get sick of the government, etc.

I'd say it's like aerospace contractors. Just wayyyy to high tech for a government project and mediocre pool. Even NASA can't efficiently design complicated engineering projects, and they probably are the only government agency with a good reputation and decent people.

The only interesting thing about these vendors is that their weapons are in active, constant use, but it's not that obvious to the victims.

Re: The secret Uganda deal that has brought NSO to the brink of collapse

#140

Post by Sporktacular »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #139
Sporktacular wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? Mercenary tech didn't exist 15 years ago, so it's not like an industry is needed to create useful state hackers. Top talent would just continue to be nurtured in-house in more accountable government agencies.

These are just like any other weapons manufacturer, really. Top talent will make way more in private firms, it's the only way to make a ton of money. Government pay is basically capped. The government pay also encourages the government employees to hire contractors, because that's how you get side benefits (not bribes! tooootallly not bribes), like ultra cushy jobs for relatives, a "consulting" job once you get sick…

"Even NASA can't efficiently design complicated engineering projects"

Um, the Apollo Program... or did you mean cost efficient?

Mercenaries are a better analog. Are you saying that soldiers of fortune make better soldiers? Better armies?

The public vs private sector debate isn't as simple or settled as you suggest. For example, and more on topic, given relatively modest salaries the NSA has produced some of the most capable, respected hackers in existence. Creating a parasitic new industry just isn't necessary. Creating risks to global stability isn't either.

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