Amazon Web Services (AWS) has shut down infrastructure and accounts connected to Israeli surveillance vendor NSO Group.
The decision follows an investigation held by a consortium of media organisations into the firm’s ‘Pegasus’ spyware.
The investigation found that NSO’s military-grade spyware was involved in at least 37 successful hacks of smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials, and human rights activists around the world.
NSO Group has denied the report, saying its product is intended only for use by government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime.
The company said in a statement: “The report by Forbidden Stories is full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories that raise serious doubts about the reliability and interests of the sources. It seems like the ‘unidentified sources’ have supplied information that has no factual basis and are far from reality.”
However, an AWS spokesperson told VICE.: “When we learned of this activity, we acted quickly to shut down the relevant infrastructure and accounts.”
Amazon has previously remained silent on NSO using its infrastructure. Back in May 2020, when VICE uncovered evidence that NSO had used Amazon Web Services to deliver malware, Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Want to learn more about topics like this from senior executives in this space? Learn more at the Cloud in FinTech & Banking Summit, on October 13 2021, on how financial organisations are using cloud migration for competitive advantage.
