Essay Example on Tech Advancement: Benefits and Cybersecurity Risks

Introduction

While the advancement of technology has drastically improved the way of doing things in several sectors, including medicine, business, and defense, it also bears several downsides. Most prominently, as the technology gets more sophisticated and the digital space grows broader, cybersecurity risks increase (Bhardwaj 189). Other than mining citizens' private data for purposes such as marketing, cyber espionage, where critical national secrets are breached, is also on the rise. According to intelligence, different advanced countries across the world have developed and also deployed various spyware to achieve that target (Sipior et al. 14). Israel is among the world leaders in private cybertechnology. There are at least 300 companies in the country dealing with cybertechnology issues, including banking security and defense infrastructure (Zilber). Owing to the fine line distinguishing defensive from offensive cyber-capabilities, some of these companies pursue illegal and sinister motives. NSO, an Israeli company, has been associated with such practices in the recent past. Though small and relatively invisible until recently, the company has previously identified flaws in iPhones, thought to be among the safest devices in the world, and developed programs to exploit them (Zilber). It has been claimed that the company, at times, uses techniques that are more sophisticated than those used by the U.S. intelligence agencies (Zilber). As such, the company does not only place the privacy of Americans at risk but also threatens national security. In this light, this paper seeks to discuss how NSO is using the COVID-19 pandemic as a guise to perpetuate its illegal activities.

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How NSO Operates

As insinuated in the introduction, NSO is gradually proving to be one of the most notorious private spy agencies in the world (Zilber). At a considerable fee, the company provides a malware suite known as Pegasus, that allows its clients to spy on their enemies. After infiltrating the phone of the target, the malware steals information, including email, video and audio records, files, text messages, and photographs (Zilber). Such activities are categorized as cybercrime in most jurisdictions around the world. However, just like other Israeli spy agencies, NSO seems to be linked to the country's institutions, such as Unit 8200 (Zilber). Resultantly, the company has managed to operate quite openly over the years.

On its part, the company holds that its operations are legal, and the software only targets criminals such as terrorists. On the contrary, the company's spyware has severally been associated with attacks on human rights workers, journalists, and political dissidents (Winstanley). For instance, the spyware has been used to target Javier Valdez, a reporter, as well as his family and colleagues (Winstanley). He was shot dead in Mexico. Pegasus has also been used to attack Amnesty International. Besides, it is also alleged that the company's system played a role in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi (Winstanley). Notably, his killers used Pegasus to intercept his phone calls (Winstanley). To counter these claims, NSO has consistently held that it does not have any control over how the software is used by the clients.

In a move that could have risked the privacy of millions of Americans, as well as other people around the world, NSO has been accused of hacking Whatsapp, which has millions of users globally (Zilber). Pegasus targeted a flaw in the app's security to infiltrate it. Investigations by Whatsapp have revealed that NSO's servers, and not those of its clients, were directly involved in the attack. Therefore, it can be assumed that the company is responsible for some of the attacks by Pegasus (Winstanley).

NSO and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The world is at the moment battling a health crisis of a magnitude not seen in the last century. Unfortunately, while both private and public institutions around the world are focused on the pandemic, NSO is seeking to use it to launder its image, which has greatly suffered from the allegations mentioned above. The company has developed a software, known as Fleming, which NSO claims can help in the fight against the virus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), contact tracing is one of the most critical strategies in containing COVID-19. This strategy involves compiling lists of all the people who have been in contact with an infected person, to have them tested and isolated if they are positive. However, cybercrime experts claim that Fleming is just another tool that NSO seeks to use to expand its target base through invasive mass surveillance (Winstanley).

As a mass surveillance tool, Fleming is meant to help governments and other health authorities, track the movement of citizens, as well as those they get into contact with. It has been established that Fleming uses the interface and analytical tools used in Pegasus. However, NSO has argued that it does not collect location data from the users' phones. Instead, it only offers the software to governments and institutions, which then acquire location data from respective telecom companies. Fleming then displays the data and allows analysts to track the movements of people. To protect the privacy of the users, they are assigned random IDs. However, it has been established that their identity can be de-anonymized when the government finds it necessary (Franceschi-Bicchierai).

Skepticism

Though NSO presents Fleming as a potent tool in the fight against COVID-19, experts are skeptical of it and are warning governments against rushing to adopt the software. First, the illegal activities that NSO has engaged in previously raise concerns on the real motives of the Fleming. For instance, the company has gained a reputation for exposing the identities of its targets to third parties (Brewster). As such, NSO cannot be trusted to anonymize the data collected. Also, as mentioned earlier, it is quite easy to de-anonymize the data collected on Fleming. Questions have also been raised on the effectiveness of the Fleming to contain COVID-19. For instance, after tracing, the contacts should either be quarantined or isolated. Isolation centers around the world are already getting overwhelmed, and even basic requirements such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing kits are scarce (Ranney et al.). As such, governments should focus on providing such, instead of investing in software whose legitimacy has not been proven yet. Moreover, some experts have argued that the geo-location accuracy of the software is poor. Therefore, if adopted, it would lead to the collection of false data and imprecise contact-tracing, which would be counterproductive in the fight against the virus.

Human and privacy rights experts have also opposed the adoption of the technology. They fear that Fleming is a tool that is meant to expand the NSO and Israeli surveillance in the world. Already different governments around the world have adopted various technologies to contain COVID-19, with little regard for privacy rights. For instance, in South Korea, the government does not only track people's movements but also their credit card transactions (Ruiz). In some parts of Russia, citizens must scan QR codes to indicate the amount of time to be spent outside (Ruiz).

As such, the adoption of Fleming by the U.S. would significantly hurt the privacy of Americans. The concerns are compounded by the fact that the U.S. government has not shown a willingness to sufficiently protect the privacy of its citizens in past emergencies (Macnish 417). According to experts, the COVID-19 pandemic is being exploited for economic and other ulterior gains by companies such as NSO. De-anonymization of the data collected directly breaches the privacy rights of the users (Cellan-Jones). Once de-anonymized, the data can be used for various malicious activities. Government institutions can also use the software as an avenue to enhance their digital surveillance powers, which is a threat to people's privacy. For instance, with such powers, the government can obtain private data from one's phone. In extension, the people's freedom of expression and association would be affected. As mentioned earlier, cyberattacks are on the rise. Government databases have been attacked in the past, jeopardizing citizens' data (Dixon Jr 38). Similarly, Fleming and other infrastructure created to support it can be attacked, placing the private data of Americans at risk.

Conclusion

As shown in this paper, Fleming is a direct threat to the privacy of Americans. First, NSO, the company behind the software, has been known to violate human and privacy rights in the past. Secondly, with the rise in incidences of cyberattacks across the world, the private data collected on the software can be accessed by other parties, hence risking the people's privacy. Finally, as shown in the paper, there is no sufficient proof that Fleming will help contain the virus. As such, NSO is only using the software to expand its global surveillance powers.

Works Cited

Bhardwaj, Akashdeep. "Ransomware: A rising threat of new age digital extortion." Online Banking Security Measures and Data Protection (2017): 189-221. <https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/ransomware/166872>.

Brewster, Thomas. "Everything We Know About NSO Group: The Professional Spies Who Hacked iPhones With A Single Text." 25 August 2016. Forbes. 4 May 2020. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2016/08/25/everything-we-know-about-nso-group-the-professional-spies-who-hacked-iphones-with-a-single-text/#6f187d7c3997>.

Cellan-Jones, Rory. "Coronavirus: Privacy in a pandemic." 2 April 2020. BBC. 4 May 2020. <https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52135916>.

Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo. "We Saw NSO's Covid-19 Software in Action, and Privacy Experts Are Worried." 2 April 2020. Vice. 4 May 2020. <https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/epg9jm/nso-covid-19-surveillance-tech-software-tracking-infected-privacy-experts-worried>.

Macnish, Kevin. "Government Surveillance and Why Defining Privacy Matters in a PostSnowden World." Journal of Applied Philosophy 32.5 (2018): 417-432. <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/japp.12219>.

Ranney, Megan L., Valerie Griffeth and Ashish K. Jha. "Critical supply shortages-the need for ventilators and personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic." New England Journal of Medicine (2020). <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006141>.

Ruiz, David. "Mass surveillance alone will not save us from coronavirus." 15 April 2020. Malwarebytes Labs. 4 May 2020. <https://blog.malwarebytes.com/opinion/2020/04/mass-surveillance-alone-will-not-save-us-from-coronavirus/>.

Sipior, Janice C., et al. "Cyberespionage Goes Mobile: FastTrans Company Attacked." Communications of the Association for Information Systems 46.1 (2020): 14. <https://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol46/iss1/14/>.

Winstanley, Asa. "Israeli spy firm uses coronavirus cover to impose global mass surveillance." 1 May 2020. Middle East Monitor. 4 May 2020. <https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200501-israeli-spy-firm-uses-coronavirus-cover-to-impose-global-mass-surveillance/>.

Zilber, Neri. "The Rise of the Cyber-Mercenaries." 31...