Israel said on Monday that countries interested in buying its cyber technologies would have to commit to using them to prevent only a limited list of terrorist acts and serious crimes.
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The move announced by Israel's Defense Ministry was the latest step in enhancing its oversight following concern over possible abuses abroad of a hacking tool sold by Israeli firms like NSO Group.
An updated certificate to be signed by purchasing countries lists in detail what qualifies as "terrorist acts" – like attacks on people, public facilities, seizures of aircraft, the release of dangerous substances – as well as "serious crimes" referring to those that warrant imprisonment of six years or more.
"The definitions for serious crimes and terrorist acts have been sharpened in order to prevent the blurring of boundaries in this context," the Defense Ministry said.
It also spells out uses that are prohibited, such as targeting people for political affiliation or applications that break that country's privacy laws, for which Israel could revoke licenses and the systems be shut down.
Israel has been under pressure to rein in exports of spyware since July, when a group of international news organizations reported that NSO's Pegasus tool had been used to hack into phones of journalists, government officials and rights activists in several countries.
Those reports prompted the Defense Ministry to review its cyber export policy. Last month, Israel was reported to have slashed the list of countries eligible to buy its cyber technologies. from 102 to 37.
According to data released by the Israel National Cyber Directorate, overall cyber exports in 2020 amounted to about $6.85 billion. Industry insiders describe the plan to impose restrictions on exports as a "major blow."
NSO has denied any wrongdoing, saying it sells its tools only to governments and law enforcement agencies and has safeguards in place to prevent misuse.
Last month, the US Commerce Department blacklisted NSO, barring the company from using US technology. The blacklisting has raised questions about NSO's financial outlook and ability to survive, and the company has acknowledged that it is trying to reverse the decision.
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