- The report looks at how the company behind the Pegasus spyware has survived fifteen years of scandals, sanctions and court rulings, and how it keeps operating in Europe with the backing of the Israeli government.
NSO Group was the first company able to take full remote control of a mobile phone without its owner knowing: all of its content, its camera and its microphone. Since 2015, Pegasus has been used to spy on tens of thousands of people around the world. In Catalonia, the CatalanGate investigation identified at least 65 people who had been targeted, including lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders and elected representatives.
The report Permanence and renewal: The case of NSO Group (2010-2026) as a gateway for Israeli technology into Europe traces the company’s history and sets out the key points:
- An alliance with the Israeli government. Export licences are granted by Israel’s Ministry of Defence, and Pegasus has been used as a diplomatic bargaining chip, from the Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
- A technology tested in Palestine. In 2021, six people working for Palestinian human rights organisations were found to have been spied on with Pegasus. Since October 2023, the company has put itself at the service of Israel’s Ministry of Defence during the genocide in Gaza.
- Luxembourg as its European business hub. NSO has nineteen companies registered there. The European Parliament’s PEGA Committee identified them as the centre for invoicing, contracts and payments. In August 2026, an Israeli court found the group guilty of tax fraud for channelling 86 million dollars through this structure.
- Rulings that haven’t stopped the business. A California court ordered NSO to pay WhatsApp more than 168 million dollars, and the United States has sanctioned the company since 2021. The European Union has taken no equivalent action.
- A new course towards the United States. Since November 2025, the company has been owned by US investors and chaired by David Friedman, former US ambassador to Israel and a supporter of illegal settlements. Its Luxembourg companies are now run by a lawyer who lives in a settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In Spain, three NSO Group executives, including two of its founders, are under investigation by a Barcelona court following a complaint brought by one of the people targeted.
Author: Cèlia Carbonell Cassanyes (Irídia). Coordination: Alys Samson (NOVACT) and Maite Ramos (SUDS). Communication: Lucrecia Baquero (Observatori de Drets Humans i Empreses a la Mediterrània). Translation: Lia Giralt. Layout: Carmela Márquez B.