UAE allegedly used Israeli spyware ‘to target top regional leaders,’ says reports

For more than a year now, Qatar has been subjected to an illegal blockade by four neighbouring nations — Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

It was an illegal hack into the Qatar News Agency which the countries cited as the basis of the illegal siege. Qatar has always strongly refuted allegations brought against it by the siege nations.

Now, new evidence shows the lengths to which UAE went to tap into the personal phones of top officials in the region.

The UAE hired Israeli spyware company NSO Group to hack into the personal phones of top leaders on their behalf, reported Al Jazeera.

The rulers of the #UAE had been using NSO Group’s an Israeli spyware tool, to steal the sensitive info. of their rival country and further used info. in order to downgrade the image of #Qatar in front of the influencing country like #UK and #US. @gnuseibeh https://t.co/cZeivbnNvr

— Omar Ahmed Samshi (@omarahmedsamshi) August 31, 2018

According to a report published in the New York Times yesterday, leaked emails submitted in two lawsuits against the Israel-based NSO Group suggested involvement in illegal spying for clients. 

The two lawsuits were filed in Israel and Cyprus by a Qatari citizen and Mexican journalists and activists who were targeted by the company’s spyware programme —Pegasus, reported Al Jazeera.

The NSO has always maintained that it merely sells the technology to governments, which agree to deploy it exclusively against criminals but then operate it on their own.

In 2 lawsuits filed against Israeli spyware NSO Group brought by Qatari citizen and Mexican journalists and activists targeted by the spyware, shows emails UAE officials spying on dissents and rivals, an emir of Qatar and a Saudi prince, a rival of MbS https://t.co/9PtT94uL6v

— Drogon (@drogon_dracarys) August 31, 2018

However, the new lawsuits include leaked documents and emails that directly challenge the company’s repeated assertions that it is not responsible for any illegal surveillance conducted by the governments that buy its spyware, reported New York Times.

Emails submitted in the lawsuits showed that the UAE signed a contract to license the company's surveillance software ‘as early as August 2013.’

The Emiratis sought to intercept the phone calls of HH The Emir, Saudi Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah — seen as a contender for the throne at the time — and Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s current Prime Minister. 

To activate the spyware on the target’s phone, a text message is sent with a link.

I was wondering when NSO Group would show up as part of the UAE/Qatar conflict: https://t.co/0xxICFJeEY

— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) August 31, 2018

If the target clicks on the link, Pegasus is secretly downloaded to the phone, enabling the user of the technology to gain access to all contact details, text messages, emails and data from online platforms such as Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat and Telegram.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs say they are ‘concerned’ with reports

An official source at Qatar’s Ministry of the Foreign Affairs stressed that the ministry is following with great concern media reports about the use of Israeli companies and their technologies to spy on states and personalities, reported Gulf Times.

In a statement, the source said it is clear from the reports that the pieces of evidence were attached to judicial files and that this reveals that the problem facing those in charge of Abu Dhabi’s foreign policy is deep and old.

“It raises several questions about the roots of the ongoing Gulf crisis. They manufactured this crisis to tear down the bonds of brotherly cooperation and fraternity at a time when Gulf people were looking forward to greater integration,” said the source.

“The current Gulf crisis started with the hacking of the Qatar News Agency and today these media reports indicate that the series of violations pre-date hacking of QNA and are still continuing,” he was quoted as saying by Qatar Tribune.

He said Qatar urges the international community to regulate digital activities so that it does not turn into a breeding ground for espionage.