FBI confirms it bought spyware from Israel’s NSO Group

By FRANK BAJAK and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has confirmed purchasing NSO Group’s powerful spyware tool Pegasus, whose chronic abuse to hack journalists, dissidents and human rights activists has long been established. The FBI suggested its motivation was to “stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft.” It said in a statement Wednesday that it obtained a limited license for evaluation and never used Pegasus operationally. But critics wondered why the premier U.S. law enforcement agency needed to pay for access to a notorious surveillance tool already well-researched by public interest cyber sleuths. The U.S. blacklisted NSO Group in November, when Apple sued it in an attempt to shut Pegasus down.