FBI spent two years considering whether it should have used spyware that can hack into any US phone

The FBI reportedly spent two years considering whether it should buy a spyware tool that would allow it to hack into any phone in the United States.

US government agencies were contacted by the NSO Group, an Israeli cyberweapons firm, multiple times between 2019 and last summer, according to the New York Times Magazine.

The firm, which has been accused of aiding human rights abuses in nations across the globe, demonstrated a new system, called ‘Phantom,’ during a presentation to officials in Washington, that could hack into any phone nationwide.

While the country’s top law enforcement agency ultimately did not purchase or procure the spyware software, an FBI spokesperson told the Times that investment in such technologies not only helps to ‘combat crime‘ but also, apparently, can ‘protect both the American people and our civil liberties.’ 

Several reasons have been offered as to why the FBI decided against procuring the device-hacking tool, chief among them a series of lawsuits and controversies that persisted against the software distribution firm at the time of negotiations. 

The website of Israeli company NSO Group which features Pegasus spyware, pictured in Helsinki, Finland on January 28

A view of the Israeli cyber company NSO Group branch in the Arava Desert on November 11, 2021 in Sapir, Israel

A view of the Israeli cyber company NSO Group branch in the Arava Desert on November 11, 2021 in Sapir, Israel

The NSO Group was being sued by Facebook/Meta over the repeated hacking of users of its messaging service WhatsApp. 

That lawsuit – launched in 2019 – claims that the spyware vendor’s malware was used to hack as many as 1,400 different users. 

While the majority of these users were based outside of the US, at least one targeted phone was American, according to the lawsuit.

The technology presents a necessary solution for a long-standing frustration to law enforcement, namely the popularization of encrypted messaging, which oftentimes stymies government oversight of communications. 

Meanwhile, other US agencies were also potentially interested in the software, including the CIA, the Secret Service, the DEA, and the US military’s Africa Command, the newspaper reports.    

The cellphone of Lama Fakih, pictured, who oversees the US-based group's response for countries ranging from Syria and Israel, was targeted five times last year

The cellphone of Lama Fakih, pictured, who oversees the US-based group’s response for countries ranging from Syria and Israel, was targeted five times last year

Jarmo Sareva, pictured, Finland's Ambassador for Cyber Security, would not disclose the data harvested by the spyware

Jarmo Sareva, pictured, Finland’s Ambassador for Cyber Security, would not disclose the data harvested by the spyware

Ongoing revelations of misconduct within the firm have continued to be levied against them in recent weeks.  

The software can seamlessly infiltrate a cell phone while allowing the operators to gain access to the device’s contents, including text messages and location history. 

Similarly-produced NSO software, known as Pegasus and can hack anyone’s phone outside the US, has been the center of bad press as recently as last week.

That technology was reportedly bought by the US government.

Several people around the world have complained that they have been targeted by Pegasus, including the members of the Finnish Foreign Ministry. 

Jarmo Sareva, Finland’s Ambassador for Cyber Security, would not disclose the data harvested, but said under government protocols information transmitted by phone must be public or classified at the lowest level.

A regional director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) who investigated Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza and the Beirut port explosion also complained that she had her phones hacked. 

The cellphones of Lama Fakih, who is based in Lebanon and oversees the US-based group’s response for countries ranging from Syria and Israel to Myanmar and Ethiopia, was targeted five times last year, HRW said.