Facebook, Google, iCloud, Amazon, Microsoft data may be vulnerable

Earlier this year, the Israeli cybersecurity company NSO Group made headlines after it reported managed to hack WhatsApp. Now a new report is suggesting that the firm's data scraping spyware can grab information from the servers of some of the world's largest tech companies.

NGO Group's proprietory malware, dubbed Pegasus, can reportedly scrape all your data stored on your Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft devices, according to a new Financial Times report. 

Sources familiar with the situation told the business news outlet that NSO Group has begun marketing the software. To make matters worse, the tech could be used to harvest data stored in the cloud, sources told the Financial Times, which means your location data, archived messages or photos would be up for grabs.

NSO Group denies the claims, saying in an email to USA TODAY that, "The Financial Times got it wrong." The firm said that its products do not provide the type of collection capabilities and access to cloud applications mentioned in the report.

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“Increasingly sophisticated terrorists and criminals are taking advantage of encrypted technologies to plan and conceal their crimes, leaving intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the dark and putting public safety and national security at risk," NSO Group said in an email. 

The company says it's "lawful interception" products are designed to confront this challenge.

“Our products are licensed in small scale to legitimate government intelligence and law enforcement agencies for the sole purpose of preventing or investigating serious crime, including terrorism," NSO Group said. 

In May, Facebook-owned WhatsApp released an update to plug a security hole in its messaging app that allowed attackers to inject spyware on smartphones by calling targets using the app. While Facebook didn't name the perpetrator, the Financial Times reported that it was NSO Group. 

Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown

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