Updated A whistleblower's allegations about spyware maker NSO Group should be investigated by American prosecutors, US House Rep Ted Lieu (D-CA) has said.
The informant claimed senior NSO executives offered "bags of cash" to California-based telecoms security and monitoring outfit Mobileum to assist in its surveillance work, according to the Washington Post on Tuesday.
Specifically, it's alleged NSO wanted to gain, with Mobileum's help, Signaling System 7-level access to US cellular networks, a position that can be abused to determine a cellphone's location, redirect and read its incoming text messages, snoop on calls, and more. SS7 is the glue between telecommunications providers, and subverting it opens up a wealth of opportunities for spies and miscreants.
Gerry Miller, who spent over six years at Mobileum and rose to veep of network security and client solutions, claimed that in August 2017, when asked how Mobileum would get paid, NSO co-founder Omri Lavie said: “We drop bags of cash at your office.”
“No business was undertaken with Mobileum,” NSO said in a statement. “Mr Lavie has no recollection of using the phrase ‘bags of cash’, and believes he did not do so. However if those words were used, they will have been entirely in jest.”
Also apparently on the call was Eran Gorev of private-equity biz Francisco Partners, which had a majority stake in NSO, before reportedly selling the biz back to the founders in 2019. Gorev offered a very similar statement.
“If such a...
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