No 10 ‘Putting Trade Above Security In Spyware Row'

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused by MPs of prioritising trade agreements over national security in its handling of surveillance abuses on British soil by countries using spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group.

- Stephanie Kirchgaessner

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused by MPs of prioritising trade agreements over national security in its handling of surveillance abuses on British soil by countries using spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group.

A letter to the prime minister signed by 10 MPs and peers has called on the government to end its cyber security programmes with countries that are known to have used NSO spyware to target dissidents, journalists and lawyers, among others, and to impose sanctions on NSO.

NSO is regulated by the Israeli defence ministry and sells its Pegasus spyware to governments around the world. While the spyware is meant to be used by the governments to track criminals and terrorists, experts have documented dozens of cases in which NSO clients have abused the surveillance tool to use it against their own perceived enemies.