Following reports of breaches of the accounts of U.S. government employees via software developed by the NSO Group, as well as the company’s blacklisting by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Channel 12 reported on Sunday evening that the Zoom video-conference platform has decided to cease its business dealings with the Israeli-owned cyber company.
Zoom, an immensely popular platform ever since the coronavirus epidemic began, has now closed all its business accounts with NSO Group.
A number of journalistic investigations have led to accusations that the “Pegasus” software NGO Group developed has been used to hack into the telephones of human rights activists and journalists. The company was blacklisted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in early November and has since been linked with a number of unflattering reports – including lawsuits filed against it by technology giants such as Apple and Meta (formerly known as Facebook).
In addition, according to credit rating company Moody’s, NSO Group suffered a downgrade in its credit rating last month, and the company is considered likely to go bankrupt.
Responding to the news, NSO issued a statement saying: “For reasons related to information security, NSO decided several months ago to begin using a different and secure service that allows conference calls, video calls and more. Company employees hold all calls and online meetings required without restriction. There is no connection between the company being put on any list and the transition that took place as stated several months earlier. We regret the ridiculous and foolish attempt to promote public relations at our expense.”