AP Source: NSO Group spyware used to hack State employees

By ALAN SUDERMAN, ERIC TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The phones of 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked using technology from Israel’s NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire company. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the employees were all located in Uganda and included some foreign service officers. The hacking is the first known instance of NSO Group’s trademark Pegasus spyware being used against U.S. government personnel. News of the hacks was first reported by Reuters. It comes a month after the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted NSO Group, barring it from using U.S. technology.