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NSO Group<\/a>, one of the most well-known and controversial makers of government spyware, released a new transparency report<\/a> on Wednesday, as the company enters what it described as \u201ca new phase of accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n But the report, unlike NSO\u2019s previous annual disclosures, lacks details about how many customers the company rejected, investigated, suspended, or terminated due to human rights abuses involving its surveillance tools. While the report contains promises to respect human rights and have controls to demand its customers do the same, the report provides no concrete evidence supporting either.\u00a0<\/p>\n Experts and critics who have followed NSO and the spyware market for years believe the report is part of an effort and campaign by the company to get the U.S. government to remove the company from a blocklist<\/a> \u2014 technically called the Entity List \u2014 as it hopes to enter the U.S. market with new financial backers and executives at the helm.<\/p>\n Last year, a group of U.S. investors acquired the company<\/a>, and since then, NSO has been undergoing a transition that included high-profile personnel changes: former Trump official David Friedman was appointed<\/a> the new executive chairman; CEO Yaron Shohat stepped down; and Omri Lavie, the last remaining founder who was still involved in the company, also left, as Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen NSO\u2019s products are in the right hands within the right countries, the world is a far safer place. That will always be our overriding mission,\u201d Friedman wrote in the report, which does not mention any country where NSO operates.<\/p>\n Natalia Krapiva, the senior tech-legal counsel at Access Now, a digital rights organization that investigates spyware abuses<\/a>, told TechCrunch: \u201cNSO is clearly on a campaign to get removed from the U.S. Entity List and one of the key things they need to show is that they have dramatically changed as a company since they were listed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChanging the leadership is one part and this transparency report is another,\u201d said Krapiva. <\/p>\n \u201cHowever, we have seen this before with NSO and other spyware companies over the years where they change names and leadership and publish empty transparency or ethics reports but the abuses continue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\tDo you know more information about NSO Group? Or other spyware makers? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email<\/a>.\t\t<\/div>\n \u201cThis is nothing but another attempt at window dressing and the U.S. government should not be taken for a fool,\u201d said Krapiva.<\/p>\n Ever since the Biden administration added NSO to the Entity List, the company has lobbied<\/a> to have its restrictions lifted. After President Donald Trump took office again last year, NSO intensified these efforts. But, as of May last year, NSO had failed to sway the new administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n In late December, the Trump administration lifted sanctions<\/a> against three executives tied to the Intellexa spyware consortium, in what some saw as a sign of a shift in the administration\u2019s attitude toward spyware makers.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s transparency report, which covers 2025, has fewer details than reports from previous years.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an earlier transparency report<\/a> covering 2024, for example, NSO said it opened three investigations of potential misuse. Without naming the customers, the company said it cut ties with one, and imposed on another customer \u201calternative remediation measures,\u201d including mandating human rights training, monitoring the customer activities, and requesting more information about how the customer uses the system. NSO did not provide any information about the third investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n NSO also said that during 2024, the company rejected more than $20 million \u201cin new business opportunities due to human rights concerns.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In the transparency report<\/a> published the prior year, covering 2022 and 2023, NSO said it suspended or terminated six government customers, without naming them, claiming these actions resulted in a revenue loss of $57 million.<\/p>\nContact Us<\/h4>\n
A lack of details<\/h2>\n