Chapter 1: A Near Perfect Hack

  1. Simon Kemp, “Digital 2023 October Global Statshot Report,” DataReportal, October 19, 2023, www.datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-october-global-statshot (archive: perma.cc/5F3V-QUTX).

  2. Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti, “The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon,” New York Times, January 28, 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/magazine/nso-group-israel-spyware.html.

  3. Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti, “Israeli Companies Aided Saudi Spying Despite Khashoggi Killing,” New York Times, July 17, 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/middleeast/israel-saudi-khashoggi-hacking-nso.html; Drew Harwell, “Dubai Ruler Used Pegasus Spyware to Hack Princess’s Phone, U.K. Court Rules,” Washington Post, October 6, 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/06/pegasus-dubai-princess-haya-court-ruling/ (archive: perma.cc/6SZN-UCSC); Natalie Kitroeff and Ronen Bergman, “How Mexico Became the Biggest User of the World’s Most Notorious Spy Tool,” New York Times, April 18, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/world/americas/pegasus-spyware-mexico.html.

  4. Raphael Satter, “Undercover Spy Exposed in NYC Was 1 of Many,” Associated Press, February 11, 2019, www.apnews.com/general-news-9bdbbfe0c8a2407aac14a1e995659de4 (archive: perma.cc/85XD-2LLA).

  5. Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley, “Despite Abuses of NSO Spyware, Israel Will Lobby U.S. to Defend It,” New York Times, November 8, 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/11/08/world/middleeast/nso-israel-palestinians-spyware.html.

  6. Alex Kane, “How Israel Became a Hub for Surveillance Technology,” Intercept, October 17, 2016, www.theintercept.com/2016/10/17/how-israel-became-a-hub-for-surveillance-technology/ (archive: perma.cc/7C4M-YEAG).

  7. Patrick Howell O’Neill, “Israeli Hacking Company NSO Group Is on Sale for More Than $1 Billion,” CyberScoop, June 12, 2017, www.cyberscoop.com/nso-group-for-sale-1-billion-pegasus-malware/ (archive: perma.cc/4G8H-TB29); Yasmin Yablonko, “Novalpina Capital and Founders Buy NSO at $1b Co Value,” Globes, February 14, 2019, en.globes.co.il/en/article-novalpina-capital-and-founders-buy-nso-for-1b-1001273312 (archive: perma.cc/3RJU-5E9C).

  8. Jeremy Herb, Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, and Marshall Cohen, “Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBI, Is Cooperating with Mueller,” CNN, December 1, 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/12/01/politics/michael-flynn-charged/index.html (archive: perma.cc/ZTP8-AP95); “Michael Flynn: Trump Pardons Ex–National Security Adviser,” BBC, November 25, 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55080923 (archive: perma.cc/YQ36-JPX9).

  9. Ryan Johnston, “How Michael Flynn Helped Cybersecurity Firms before His White House Stint,” CyberScoop, June 19, 2017, cyberscoop.com/flynn-dabbled-private-sector-government-appointment-form-shows/ (archive: perma.cc/7VVQ-PC9Y).

  10. Adam Entous, Greg Miller, Kevin Sieff, and Karen DeYoung, “Blackwater Founder Held Secret Seychelles Meeting to Establish Trump-Putin Back Channel,” Washington Post, April 3, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel/2017/04/03/95908a08-1648-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html; “Mueller Report Findings: Mueller Rejects Argument That Trump Is Shielded from Obstruction Laws,” Washington Post, April 18, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-report-russia-investigation-findings/2019/04/18/b07f4310-56f9-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html; Robert S. Mueller III, Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, vol. 1 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, March 2019), https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl; Erin Banco, “Mueller Exposes Erik Prince’s Lies about His Rendezvous with a Top Russian,” Daily Beast, April 18, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-exposes-erik-princes-lies-about-his-seychelles-rendezvous-with-top-russian-kirill-dmitriev (archive: perma.cc/2FBC-BJUS).

  11. Wendy Siegelman, “Eitanium Ltd Chart: Erik Prince and Directors and Their Network of Cyber Surveillance Related Companies,” Medium, March 21, 2021, wsiegelman.medium.com/eitanium-ltd-chart-erik-prince-and-directors-and-their-network-of-cyber-surveillance-and-related-16e6b28c0379 (archive: perma.cc/6Z2G-A57W).

  12. Amnesty International, “Pegasus Project: Rwandan Authorities Chose Thousands of Activists, Journalists and Politicians to Target with NSO Spyware,” press release, July 19, 2021, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/07/rwandan-authorities-chose-thousands-of-activists-journalists-and-politicians-to-target-with-nso-spyware/ (archive: perma.cc/9RAF-K2YB); Julian E. Barnes and David E. Sanger, “Saudi Crown Prince Is Held Responsible for Khashoggi Killing in U.S. Report,” New York Times, February 26, 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/jamal-khashoggi-killing-cia-report.html; Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton, The Million Dollar Dissident: NSO Group’s iPhone Zero-Days Used against a UAE Human Rights Defender, Research Report No. 78, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, August 24, 2016, www.citizenlab.ca/2016/08/million-dollar-dissident-iphone-zero-day-nso-group-uae/ (archive: perma.cc/8CMB-RA2P).

  13. Emma Graham-Harrison, “Missing Emirati Princess ‘Planned Escape for Seven Years,’” Guardian, December 4, 2018, www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/missing-emirati-princess-latifa-al-maktoum-had-planned-escape-for-seven-years (archive: perma.cc/3NKE-58LR).

  14. Shane Huntley, “Buying Spying: How the Commercial Surveillance Industry Works and What Can Be Done about It,” Google Threat Analysis Group, February 6, 2024, https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/commercial-surveillance-vendors-google-tag-report/ (archive: perma.cc/53NF-Q4UT).

  15. “FSB Team of Chemical Weapon Experts Implicated in Alexey Navalny Novichok Poisoning,” Bellingcat, December 14, 2020, www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/12/14/fsb-team-of-chemical-weapon-experts-implicated-in-alexey-navalny-novichok-poisoning/ (archive: perma.cc/FX79-PYLC).

  16. Andy Greenberg, “Signal Is Finally Bringing Its Secure Messaging to the Masses,”ired, February 14, 2020, www.wired.com/story/signal-encrypted-messaging-features-mainstream/ (archive: perma.cc/4ZQU-5KK3).

  17. Bill Marczak, John Scott-Railton, Sarah McKune, Bahr Abdul Razzak, and Ron Deibert, Hide and Seek: Tracking NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware to Operations in 45 Countries, Research Report No. 113, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, September 18, 2018, www.citizenlab.ca/2018/09/hide-and-seek-tracking-nso-groups-pegasus-spyware-to-operations-in-45-countries/ (archive: perma.cc/TJ7M-8PMP); “Azerbaijan Suspected of Spying on Reporters, Activists by Using Software to Access Phones,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, July 18, 2021, www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijan-pegasus-spying-nso/31365076.html (archive: perma.cc/T9NM-JZQP).

  18. Raeesa Pather, “The Botched Investigation into Rwanda’s Murdered Spy Chief,” Mail & Guardian, January 25, 2019, www.mg.co.za/article/2019-01-25-00-murdered-spy-boss-probe-botched/ (archive: perma.cc/7HSD-GBGL).

  19. John Scott-Railton, Siena Anstis, Sharly Chan, Bill Marczak, and Ron Deibert, Nothing Sacred: Religious and Secular Voices for Reform in Togo Targeted with NSO Spyware, Research Report No. 129, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, August 3, 2020, www.citizenlab.ca/2020/08/nothing-sacred-nso-sypware-in-togo/ (archive: perma.cc/FTB4-E6LF).

  20. John Scott-Railton, Elies Campo, Bill Marczak, Bahr Abdul Razzak, Siena Anstis, Gözde Böcü, Salvatore Solimano, and Ron Deibert. CatalanGate: Extensive Mercenary Spyware Operation against Catalans Using Pegasus and Candiru, Research Report No. 155, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, April 18, 2022, www.citizenlab.ca2022/04/catalangate-extensive-mercenary-spyware-operation-against-catalansusing-pegasus-candiru/.

  21. “Read the WhatsApp Complaint against NSO Group,” Washington Post, October 29, 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-whatsapp-complaint-against-nso-group/abc0fb24-8090-447f-8493-1e05b2fc1156/ (archive: perma.cc/E3CD-VWCS).

  22. Will Cathcart, “Why WhatsApp Is Pushing Back on NSO Group Hacking,” Washington Post, October 29, 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/29/why-whatsapp-is-pushing-back-nso-group-hacking/ (archive: perma.cc/PQ5F-7GRK).