Jamal Khashoggi’s Widow Says Notorious Spyware Left Her ‘Irrevocably Altered’

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims NSO’s Pegasus surveillance software “caused her [Elatr] immense harm, both through the tragic loss of her husband and through her own loss of safety, privacy, and autonomy.” Elatr’s legal team did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. NSO Group did not respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment but its former CEO, Shalev Hulio, has previously denied his company had any involvement with Khashoggi’s death.

“I can tell you very clear,” Hulio previously told 60 Minutes. “We had nothing to do with this horrible murder.”

How did NSO Group get into Khashoggi’s widow’s phone, according to her suit?

Elatr claims digital forensic investigations carried out by Citizen Lab, a research lab that has studied the NSO Group extensively, show her device may have been infected with the spyware for nearly a year leading up to Khashoggi’s killing. Specifically, the suit points to a period in early 2018 when Elatr, who had been recently engaged to Khashoggi, traveled to Dubai as part of her flight attendant work. She claims she was detained in the country and questioned for nearly two weeks. UAE officials, who have previously purchased NSO’s spyware, may have manually installed the software on her device then, the suit claims.

Agents had reportedly tried and failed to compromise Elatr’s device prior to her trip. In one case she claims she received a text with a link claiming a bouquet of flowers was ready for her. When she clicked the link it redirected her to a disabled Pegasus link. The suit claims intelligence agents chose to target Elatr’s device because she, like many people close to primary surveillance targets, are less likely to have strict security measures in place.

How Hanan Elatr says she was surveilled

Elatr and investigators at the Citizen Lab believe her phone was infected with NSO Groups’ Pegasus spyware, which it refers to as the world’s most powerful, sophisticated, and infamous cyberweapon.” Unlike other, lesser software, Pegasus has become a crown jewel of intelligence agencies worldwide due to its ability to infect devices with “zero clicks.” In theory, an intelligence office equipped with Pegasus only needs a target’s phone number to crack into the device. In addition to being able to see and view Elatr’s texts, phone calls and other communications, Pegasus also allowed intelligence agents remotely activate her camera and microphone, “turning her phones into sophisticated listening and recording devices,” the suit reads.

NSO Group has gained international infamy in recent years for its decision to sell its sophisticated software to authoritarian regimes. Though billed as a tool for local police to fight crime and terrorism, numerous reports have shown Pegasus and NSO’s other products have been repeatedly used to track and surveil politicians, journalists, human rights defenders, and children. In 2021, the US Department of Commerce officials added NSO to its trade blacklist.

Elatr’s suit claims NSO acted negligently by selling its products to countries “widely known to violate human rights,” and inflict harm on dissidents. The suit also claims NSO violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act when it surreptitiously collected communications on Elatr’s device while she was in Virginia.

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