The widow of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is suing an Israeli tech firm, claiming foreign governments used the company’s spyware to track her movements and forced her into a “state of constant hyper-vigilance.”
Hanan Elatr is accusing the NSO Group of violating federal and Virginia hacking laws and negligence in selling its Pegasus spyware to hostile foreign actors.
NSO initially said it had not seen the lawsuit. When the firm was sent a copy, it did not immediately respond. The company – which markets surveillance technology to intelligence agencies and law enforcement around the world – has previously denied that its technology was used to hack Khashoggi. He was a Washington Post columnist, who was murdered on the grounds of Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
US intelligence concluded in 2021 that Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by the Crown Prince and has maintained that Khashoggi’s killing was a heinous crime by a rogue group.
Saudi use of the Pegasus spying tool has come up in other controversial cases. Last year, Reuters reported that an attempt by Saudi authorities to wield Pegasus against Saudi women’s rights activist, Loujain Al-Hathloul, backfired, allowing researchers to uncover thousands of other victims and triggering a cascade of legal and government action.
The US government has imposed restrictions on doing business with NSO over human rights concerns, and the company faces a barrage of legal action over its spy services, including from Apple Inc., and WhatsApp owner, Meta Platforms Inc.