Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware come to light in a special partnership between Exile Content Studios and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Hosts Rose Reid and Nando Vila examine the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and his inner circle that had the world's most sophisticated military-grade spyware confirmed on their phones. It's called Pegasus. How did this spyware come to be, how does it work, and how vulnerable are you? Every other week Shoot The Messenger investigates Pegasus, the Israeli technology company that makes it, the NSO Group, and the cyber war industry that is booming around it. You have heard the headlines — this is the deep dive.
7. Pegasus, Netanyahu’s Foreign Bargaining Chip
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its seventh episode, revealing a pattern of Pegasus as a bargaining chip for foreign relations.
Over the past decade, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - there is a direct correlation between his travels, his meet and greets with world leaders…and the proliferation of Pegasus spyware.
Where Netanyahu goes, Pegasus seems to follow. As Netanyahu asserts his control over a divisive Israel, should we expect to see an increase in the scope of NSO Group's capabilities in digital surveillance? This industry has boomed during Netanyahu's tenure - and he has famously said, "Don't over-regulate."
Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.
Guests: Keshet’s Amitai Ziv; Financial Times’ Mehul Srivastava; Citizen Lab’s Scott Stedman