So far NSO has pitched their spyware to the Secret Service, LAPD, San Diego PD, DEA, at least from what little information is available. Of course none of these agencies would never ever use such spyware illegally and I'm sure NSO wouldn't try to siphon any information its "customers" obtain.
Also:
Biden Advisers Ride on Pegasus SpywareA new investigation by The Washington Post and a consortium of 16 international news outlets reveals that software from an Israeli company named NSO Group has spied on hundreds of journalists, activists, executives, and government officials. Its infamous product Pegasus can crack into encrypted phones without a trace and is used by autocrats. The findings are part of the Pegasus Project, which has already presented evidence of the spyware being used to hack the slain Mexican journalist Cecilio Pineda Birto as well as two people close to the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But NSO Group has been deflecting from its relationship with authoritarian governments for years. After its surveillance tech was caught being used to target dissidents, the notorious Israeli company sought the assistance of WestExec Advisors, the consultancy founded by now–Secretary of State Tony Blinken and staffed by prominent national-security experts from the Obama administration.
WestExec turned the company down, but NSO was persistent. It was investing heavily in a revamp of its global reputation in response to accusations of its spyware’s abuse, especially in the hands of Saudi Arabia. NSO must have sensed just how influential Blinken’s tight-knit group of former policymakers was, though the client didn’t align with WestExec’s stated principles.
The consulting group stood firm, but NSO had actually already recruited one of its members.
Dan Shapiro, a WestExec consultant based in Israel and Obama’s former ambassador to the country, had already been working for NSO.Shapiro began independently advising NSO in mid-2017, months before WestExec was established. He counseled NSO on how to prevent the misuse of its technology and advised the company to stop selling its hacking tools to Saudi Arabia, according to The New York Times. Initially, NSO heeded. But then, under new ownership—and with the encouragement of the Israeli government and the Trump administration—NSO once again sold its powerful software to Saudi Arabia.
Many Washington operators were willing to do lucrative business for the NSO Group, and it hasn’t necessarily hurt their careers.
Shapiro advised NSO through the end of 2018 and participated in Biden campaign strategy calls in 2020. He is now under consideration to be President Biden’s special envoy to the Middle East.That a consulting firm specializing in national-security tech like WestExec Advisors rejected NSO Group’s entreaties, while advising other defense contractors and tech companies, shows just how beyond the pale NSO’s products are. Working for Israeli hackers, WestExec consultants may have thought, would hurt their chances of re-entering government. (It’s a decision validated by Biden appointing more than 15 members of the boutique firm to the administration.)
Still, many Washington operators were willing to do lucrative business for the NSO Group, and it hasn’t necessarily hurt their careers. Shapiro has been floated for a State Department appointment to continue Trump’s policy of securing accords between Israel and Arab states. Shapiro declined to comment on the record.
The list of Washington operators who have benefited directly from working with NSO is long, and they don’t want to talk about it:
The consultancy Beacon Global Strategies—founded by longtime Hillary Clinton adviser Andrew Shapiro, former CIA and Pentagon official Jeremy Bash, and former House aide Michael Allen—quietly provided advice to NSO until mid-2019.
Attorney Dan Jacobson provided legal services to NSO’s parent company and joined the Biden administration this spring as general counsel for the Office of Administration.
Rod Rosenstein, after two years as deputy attorney general, advised NSO in a lawsuit the Facebook affiliate WhatsApp had brought against it.
Jeh Johnson, Obama’s homeland security secretary who was in the running to be Biden’s defense secretary, signed off on NSO’s human rights policy.
Obama homeland security official Juliette Kayyem advised the hacking group.
https://prospect.org/power/biden-advisers-ride-on-pegasus-nso-spyware/
