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.
3. Who is the NSO Group?
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its third episode of the series digging into the origin story behind the company that makes Pegasus spyware, the NSO Group. Israeli tech entrepreneurs Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie initially developed remote access to smartphones, which evolved into Pegasus. In a twist of fate, over the course of a decade, they have managed to beat out or outlast major competition in the spyware industry, including the Italian company Hacking Team. Guests: Keshet cybersecurity reporter Amitai Ziv; ReaQta CEO & former Hacking Team employee Alberto Pellicione; Security Advisor Ian Iftach Amit Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.
1. What Happened to Jamal Khashoggi?
In 2018, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey and was never seen again. Weeks later, the Turkish intelligence released secret tapes of Khashoggi’s last moments before being brutally murdered, causing an international uproar. It has been four years since Khashoggi’s murder, and what we now know is that the first weapon used against Khashoggi was digital and it’s called Pegasus - a kind of software that can be used to hijack your phone; a military-grade, spyware software. Guests: Widow of Jamal Khahsoggi, Hanan Elatr; Washington Post Dana Priest; New York Times’ Carlotta Gall Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.
2. Discovering Pegasus Spyware - The Magic Worm
More than four years after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Khashoggi’s phones are still with Turkish authorities. We learned how Khashoggi’s wife, Hanan Elatr discovered she had been targeted, tracked and spied on by Pegasus, the military-grade spyware on her phone. She was not the only one. His colleague, Omar Abdulaziz, and fellow activist, Ahmed Monsoor, were also targeted. Guests: Citizen Lab Founder Ron Deibert; Citizen Lab Sr Fellow, Bill Marczak; New York Times’ Nicole Perlroth Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.
Introducing Shoot The Messenger: Espionage, Murder & Pegasus Spyware
Shoot the Messenger is a new serialized, investigative-reporting podcast where we do deep dives on the international news stories that warrant a reexamination. We start our first season asking what really happened to the murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi? We now know the first weapon used against him was digital - a sophisticated spyware called Pegasus. Several people in Jamal Khashoggi's inner circle have had Pegasus confirmed on their phones. And it doesn’t stop there. There are thousands of identified targets. We all use our phones daily, as almost an extension of ourselves - but what happens when our phones are no longer safe? How did the spyware come to be, how does it work, and just how vulnerable are you? Find out on Shoot the Messenger, in a special partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists, our first season features ten episodes on “Espionage, Murder, and Pegasus Spyware.” Shoot the Messenger is a production of Exile Content Studio and is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila.