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

Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–26 of 26 posts

Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

#21

Post by [deleted] »

filmgirlcw wrote: post #16
0_____0 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More of a failing of AJ's IT dept than anything else. Not sure if they were using AJ issued devices but they should be on managed devices that get updated on schedule, which may have mitigated this attack. Journos aren't necessarily deeply technical folks, that's really not their core competency.

Read the details on this attack. They were running the latest software. I wouldn’t be surprised if the devices were managed in some way too. It doesn’t matter. This highly-targeted attack couldn’t be mitigated and that’s exactly the point.

[deleted]

Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

#22

Post by stevenjohns »

dessant wrote: post #5

Why are companies that stockpile zero-days for resale legal? Aren't they also a threat to the countries that host them, even if some or all of the intelligence is shared? And why aren't countries that host these companies sanctioned?

I'm willing to go one step further and say that NSO Group is operated by and is a core part of Israeli intelligence. It just has layers of deniability baked into the business structure like any good limited liability entity.

What it comes down to is that with NSO group:

1. Israel has access to the best 0-days it needs

2. The knowledge to develop further exploits is maintained within the Israeli intelligence apparatus

3. Israel is able to dominate the digital intelligence apparatus of autocratic regimes and, as a consequence, be able to defend itself against those tools

4. Israel is able to use it as a back channel for establishing and maintaining relationships, as well as exerting power and leverage on those nations

Given that it is an Israeli-government entity, much like the rest of the Israeli government, it is politically untouchable and buried under layers of denial. It's a direct, toxic exploitation of the relationship that Western countries maintain with Israel.

Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

#23

Post by michael1999 »

dessant wrote: post #5

Why are companies that stockpile zero-days for resale legal? Aren't they also a threat to the countries that host them, even if some or all of the intelligence is shared? And why aren't countries that host these companies sanctioned?

The same reasons that the companies that make guns, bombs, and tanks are legal.

Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

#24

Post by [deleted] »

michael1999 wrote: post #23
dessant wrote: post #5

Why are companies that stockpile zero-days for resale legal? Aren't they also a threat to the countries that host them, even if some or all of the intelligence is shared? And why aren't countries that host these companies sanctioned?

The same reasons that the companies that make guns, bombs, and tanks are legal.

[deleted]

Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

#25

Post by filmgirlcw »

0_____0 wrote: post #20
filmgirlcw wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the details on this attack. They were running the latest software. I wouldn’t be surprised if the devices were managed in some way too. It doesn’t matter. This highly-targeted attack couldn’t be mitigated and that’s exactly the point.

??? From TFA? > Researchers at Citizen Lab said the apparent malicious code they discovered, which they claim is used by clients of Israel’s NSO Group, made “almost all” iPhone devices vulnerable if users were using an operating system that pre-dated Apple’s iOS 14 system, which appears to have fixed the vulnerability. Edit: and that's almost not relevant to my point - what I'm saying is that journalists aren't inher…

And my point is that with this attack, that wouldn’t matter. The exploit was state-sponsored and specifically targeted and was going after even up to date (at the time) devices. Citizen Lab was only able to glean as much information as it was in one case because the journalist reached out 7 months before he was hacked and they gave him a VPN they could use to monitor his traffic logs. The journalist was a key part of figuring this out, which goes against your entire point that the IT department would have caught this.

They wouldn’t have and they didn’t. This isn’t a scenario where you can blame lack of information or talk about who is or is not inherently technical. It was state-sponsored targeted hacking.

Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware

#26

Post by bongo70 »

dessant wrote: post #17
fortran77 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they are not an "Israeli Company". They are owned by a European Private Equity group, with HQ in London, despite what the Guardian's "reporter" "Jassar Al-Tahat" says. Should we assume that comments and logs for Hacker News are all shared with the UK Intelligence Community because Paul Graham was born in Weymouth, UK?

To add a personal note, I came here to ask questions, to learn something new, and to try understanding how any of this is allowed to happen. You've ruined my experience and this thread for no reason. Please don't ever do that again.

You asked a very good question...but there is a terrible trend where criticism of the crimes of Israel results in obfuscation and claims of unwarranted persecution, instead of focusing on the actual topic.

Pure deflection to cover up what should be objectively viewed as criminal activity in my opinion.

Post reply on HN