The FBI purchased a license for Pegasus and installed it in a facility the FBI uses in New Jersey to sort of test it out. In 2018, the White House announces... US has blacklisted an Israeli company that makes Pegasus spyware. It puts NSO and another Israeli tech firm called Candero on a Commerce Department blacklist. The idea was to kind of starve those firms.
“Zero-click spyware” is making it easier for governments to get their hands on individuals’ personal data. New York Times investigative reporter Mark Mazzetti says that when it comes to spyware, the United States is both an arsonist and a firefighter.
This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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