However, we know about the company that, among other things, it has been linked to the murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Kashoggi and that it has been denounced by WhatsApp y Facebook under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, but who is behind NSO Group? Who created Pegasus?
Niv Carmi, the technician
Niv Carmi is a former Mossad agent, one of the Israeli intelligence and counterterrorism agencies. He was the last to join the trio whose initials gave the company its name (NSO) and was responsible for developing the technical part, that is, the one that made it possible for Pegasus to be increasingly effective when it came to hacking mobile phones, even reaching can activate the microphone and camera of the device remotely. His military contacts also helped the company to grow within the sector, but he ended up abandoning the project.
Shalev Hulio is 39 years old, he is the CEO of NSO Group and a former commander of the IDF Civil Defense command, Israel Defense Forces, where he played a leading role in containing the Second Intifada.
After completing his military service, Hulio studied law and founded a company called CommuniTake with his high school friend Omri Lavie, a project that aimed to improve the upgradeability of mobile phones. After its failure, and a short period of inactivity, he founded the NSO Group.
Omri Lavie, the former number two
Driven by a passion for technology that he shared from high school With his friend Shalev, Omri Lavie joined the founding of NSO after failing his first business venture in the financial crisis 2008. In the period between the closure of his company and the start of NSO, Omri even sold mobile phones in a shopping center, but he never lost sight of his intention to start a business. Although he is no longer part of the day-to-day running of the company, he is still part of the shareholders’ meeting.