The company states that it provides 'authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime.' NSO Group has published sections of contracts which require customers to use its products only for criminal and national security investigations and has stated that it has an industry-leading approach to human rights. NSO Group was previously owned by American private equity firm Francisco Partners, but it was bought back by its founders in 2019. It is a Trojan horse computer virus that can be sent 'flying through the air' to infect cell phones. The spyware is named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. As of 2016, Pegasus was capable of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, location tracking, accessing the target device's microphone and camera, and harvesting information from apps. The 2021 Project Pegasus revelations suggest that the current Pegasus software can exploit all recent iOS versions up to iOS 14.6.
Pegasus was spyware developed by the Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile phones (and other devices) running most versions of iOS and Android.
