Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 170 posts

Re: WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

#33

Post by gsk22 »

ethbr1 wrote: post #4
rdtsc wrote: post #3

> Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the lawsuit, "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that blanket request was denied. Interesting approach. The court could probably care less about Israeli restrictions as it's a different country. Officially US govt blacklisted Pegasus https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/us-blacklists-ma... . However, I wouldn't be surprised if some US spy agen…

I doubt US spy agencies still use it in any official capacity. Far easier to just request and obtain the resulting intelligence from partner intelligence organizations who are using it. Arms-length collection is less legally perilous. But which does bode poorly for any assertion of national security in US courts! "Are you using this software?" "Officially, no." "Then on what basis do you claim national security?"

Thanks to the FISA "court" system, I doubt US spy agencies fear any legal reprecussions.

No need to follow the law if you have a secret court where no one has standing to challenge your actions.

Re: WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

#34

Post by Izikiel43 »

kristofferR wrote: post #30

Can anyone explain this case? Why would a US court have any jurisdiction over a foreign Israeli spyware vendor that has already been blacklisted by the US government? And why would Israel send their spyware source code to WhatsApp even if they lose the case?

Because it's the US. Same reason they can do FATCA

Re: WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

#35

Post by wkat4242 »

jokoon wrote: post #8

This is why I don't want to work in cyber security. You are dealing with dangerous people.

Meh. The same goes for police work and even more so for military.

And cyber is a very wide range. A lot of roles are simply about training personnel in security principles and procedures, implementing data classification etc. Not everyone deals directly with attacks. Most of the work is preventative. In our company probably less than 20% of people who technically work in cyber, although that's in part because our SOC is outsourced.

Re: WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

#36

Post by xxpor »

kristofferR wrote: post #30

Can anyone explain this case? Why would a US court have any jurisdiction over a foreign Israeli spyware vendor that has already been blacklisted by the US government? And why would Israel send their spyware source code to WhatsApp even if they lose the case?

Because the NSO group handles dollars.

If they didn't respond, they'd lose by default, and the court could order any assets the US can get their hands on seized. If they're getting paid in NIS by countries outside of Israel, the currency conversion happens with dollars as the intermediary. There's the US's window.

Re: WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

#38

Post by [deleted] »

rdtsc wrote: post #3

> Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the lawsuit, "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that blanket request was denied. Interesting approach. The court could probably care less about Israeli restrictions as it's a different country. Officially US govt blacklisted Pegasus https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/us-blacklists-ma... . However, I wouldn't be surprised if some US spy agen…

[deleted]

Re: WhatsApp forces Pegasus spyware maker to share its secret code

#40

Post by libraryofbabel »

pvo50555 wrote: post #24
rdtsc wrote: post #3

> Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the lawsuit, "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that blanket request was denied. Interesting approach. The court could probably care less about Israeli restrictions as it's a different country. Officially US govt blacklisted Pegasus https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/us-blacklists-ma... . However, I wouldn't be surprised if some US spy agen…

couldn't* care less

Much as it may pain you, “could care less” is an established idiom in American English that’s been in use for 70 years, and Webster’s dictionary has a whole page about it: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/could-couldnt-care-l..., in which they say:

> people who go through life expecting informal variant idioms in English to behave logically are setting themselves up for a lifetime of hurt.

Post reply on HN