Dozens in Jordan targeted by authorities using NSO spyware, report finds

Source: The Guardian

Dozens in Jordan targeted by authorities using NSO spyware, report finds

Findings suggest Jordan is relying on cyberweapon to quash dissent and its use is ‘staggeringly widespread’

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
Thu 1 Feb 2024 09.00 GMT
Last modified on Thu 1 Feb 2024 15.37 GMT

About three dozen journalists, lawyers and human rights workers in Jordan have been targeted by authorities using powerful spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group amid a broad crackdown on press freedoms and political participation, according to a report by the advocacy group Access Now.

The information suggests the Jordanian government has used the Israeli cyberweapon against members of civil society, including at least one American citizen living in Jordan, between 2019 and September 2023.

Tensions between Israel and Jordan are high after Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza and accusations by a Jordanian official that the war waged by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, amounts to “retaliatory barbarism”.

Access Now’s findings about the “staggeringly widespread” attacks against journalists, political activists, civil society actors and human rights lawyers in Jordan underscores how countries across the region have quietly maintained strong intelligence and business ties to Israel and appear to be relying on its most potent cyberweapon to quash domestic dissent.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/01/jordan-targeting-lawyers-jouranlists-israeli-nso-spyware-report