Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
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Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#2Journalists can't seem to keep up with the latest threat model material. I'm wondering if a resource for journalist training is a good idea considering the resources stacked against them.
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#3Journalists can't seem to keep up with the latest threat model material. I'm wondering if a resource for journalist training is a good idea considering the resources stacked against them.
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.
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#4Journalists can't seem to keep up with the latest threat model material. I'm wondering if a resource for journalist training is a good idea considering the resources stacked against them.
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.
When you work in a sensitive environment such as the middle east as a journalist, one really needs to go overboard and keep an insulated protection layer - separate devices, clean contacts, Tor and VPN, the whole gamut. It is the journalist's responsibility in such environments to ensure their survival and make sure that they don't engage in something stupid.
I presume AJ, just like the others, tends to use a lot of freelancers - in fact, they pay out some of the highest commissions to freelancers. Most freelancers are responsible for their own lives.
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#5Why 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?
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#6Why 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?
NSO is owned by a European company Novalpina Capital with headquarters in London.
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#7Why 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?
NSO is owned by a European company Novalpina Capital with headquarters in London.
My original comment asked if we should assume that the NSO Group arsenal is shared with the Israeli Intelligence Community, given that we've talking about an Israeli company.
That's a valid question, because hosting such a company is a major diplomatic liability. Why would you consider this question, as you said, a slander?
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
NSO is owned by a European company Novalpina Capital with headquarters in London.
My original comment asked if we should assume that the NSO Group arsenal is shared with the Israeli Intelligence Community, given that we've talking about an Israeli company. That's a valid question, because hosting such a company is a major diplomatic liability. Why would you consider this question, as you said, a slander?
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?
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#9Journalists as messengers have always been targeted, and even killed, and it seems that Apple’s messaging system was the attack vector here.
While the article decries NSO for being nefarious and selling to suspect “authoritarian” countries, high schools here in our democratic US have been buying hacking solutions to spy on students:
https://gizmodo.com/u-s-schools-are-buying-phone-hacking-tec...
Re: Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using NSO Group spyware
#10Less than a decade ago NSO Group assisted the then president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, in spying his political adversaries. Around the same time Martinelli requested similar assistance from the US, but they refused his request (according to Wikileaks).