A secret contract between the Biden administration and the Israeli NSO Group that was signed in late 2021 was published by the New York Times on Sunday, revealing that the White House was making use of the hacking tool it simultaneously blacklisted.
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Under the contractual agreement, which was finalized on Nov. 8, 2021, the Israeli firm gave the U.S. government access to one of its most powerful cyber weapons — a geolocation tool that can covertly track mobile phones around the world without the owner's knowledge or consent.
According to the New York Times article, written by Mark Mazzetti and Ronen Bergman - an Israeli investigative journalist, the deal was signed for NSO by a businessman using a fake name.
Furthermore, only five days earlier, the Biden administration had announced it was taking action against the Israeli spy tools, which it criticized for being abused by governments around the world, to spy on political dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists. NSO denied the allegations claiming that its technology helps catch criminals.
The company was placed on a Commerce Department blacklist, declaring it to be a national security threat and discouraging American companies from doing business with it. The department said this move was part of the Biden administration’s efforts to promote human rights in U.S. foreign policy. NSO lost many of its existing customers due to the U.S. Commerce Department's decision.
The contract, disclosed by the NYT for the first time, stated that the “United States government” would be the ultimate user of the tool, and specifically allowed the government to test, evaluate, and deploy the spyware against targets in Mexico. When asked about the contract, White House officials responded by contending that they are "not aware of this contract, and any use of this product would be highly concerning” and declined to make any further comment, the American daily newspaper quoted.
The contract isn't the first time President Joe Biden's stance against Israeli-made spyware has been surmised. The Biden administration allowed the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to deploy a tool called Graphite, made by the Israeli firm Paragon. Just like NSO's Pegasus spyware, Graphite can invade mobile phones and harvest data.
The secret contract illuminates the ongoing modern controversies regarding cyberweapons and shows that even amid efforts to take action against them, agencies are drawn to their power.