NSO Group, the Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware, says a group of investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has acquired a controlling stake in the firm, which has named a former Trump official to lead an effort to restore its battered reputation. The company, which has faced lawsuits and U.S. government sanctions since revelations that its technology was used to spy on political dissidents, human-rights advocates, journalists and American officials, declined to disclose the purchase price.

NSO’s new executive chairman, David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and onetime bankruptcy lawyer for President Trump, said he wants to use his ties to the Trump administration to help rebuild the company’s spyware business in the U.S…NSO’s flagship product, Pegasus, has used WhatsApp to infiltrate phones without the target having to do or tap on anything. The spyware has also been sent to phones via links in messages, according to security researchers. Pegasus can turn a smartphone into a silent spying device by gaining access to its files, messages, microphone and camera, they say.

In 2021, the Biden administration placed NSO on an export-prohibition list that restricted the firm from obtaining some types of technology from the U.S. In 2023, President Biden signed an executive order banning government agencies and departments from using commercial spyware that “poses risks to national security or has been misused by foreign actors to enable human rights abuses around the world.” Unless Biden’s executive order is rescinded, it is unlikely U.S. government agencies would do business with NSO.

Intelligence agencies such as the U.S. National Security Agency and the U.K.’s Government Communications Headquarters routinely use hacking tools. NSO often sells such cyber capabilities to countries that don’t have their own. Friedman said his pitch to the U.S. government is that NSO’s products will make America safer. NSO says its products can be used by government agencies to fight terrorism and crime by allowing them access to encrypted messaging systems such as WhatsApp….

In 2019, WhatsApp’s parent company, now called Meta, sued NSO over what it alleged was a breach of its servers to install NSO’s malware on target devices. In July 2025, the six-year trial came to an end, with a federal jury in California ordering NSO to pay Meta $168 million in damages. In October 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California reduced the fine NSO was ordered to pay Meta down to $4 million. But in the same ruling, the judge ordered NSO to stop targeting WhatsApp, in a move that the company said during its defense could put it out of business. NSO is appealing the decision against targeting WhatsApp, and is filing for a stay.

Excerpt from Dov Lieber, Israeli Spyware Maker NSO Gets New Owners, Leadership and Seeks to Mend Reputation, WSJ, Nov. 9, 2025