Israeli firm's spyware used on Jordan activists, report says

JERUSALEM (AP) — Digital-rights researchers have concluded that the mobile phones of four Jordanian human rights activists were hacked over a two-year period with software made by the Israeli spyware company NSO Group.

Tuesday’s findings by Front Line Defenders and Citizen Lab said at least some of the hackings appear to have been carried out by the Jordanian government. It was the latest in a series of reports linking NSO’s Pegasus spyware software to abuses by authoritarian governments.

Jordan denied the allegations. NSO had no comment on the findings, but said the monitoring of political activists by any client would amount to a “severe misuse” of its product. Both the company and the Israeli government have faced repeated criticism over their oversight practices.

The report identified the activists as Ahmed al-Neimat, an anti-corruption activist who it said has been banned by Jordan from working or leaving the country; human rights lawyer Malik Abu Orabi; and Suhair Jaradat, a female journalist and human rights activist. It said another female human rights activist and journalist was targeted, but asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns.

It said at least two of the targets appeared to have been hacked by operators “primarily focused on Jordan.” It said it identified two operators that were “likely agencies of the Jordanian government.”

Earlier this year, Frontline Defenders said another female Jordan activist, Hala Ahed Deeb, had also been hacked by NSO software.

Frontline Defenders is a nonprofit advocacy group based in Ireland that says it provides assistance to human rights activists who are in danger. Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto, conducts research on information technology, security and human rights. Both organizations have...