Departures have multiplied since the technology company has been at the heart of a spy scandal for several months.
The executive director of NSO, maker of spy software Pegasus, left his post on Tuesday, while assuring that his departure was not linked to recent controversies concerning this Israeli cybersecurity company.
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NSO found itself exposed in 2021 after investigations published by a consortium of 17 international media claiming that Pegasus had allowed spying on the phones of journalists, politicians including heads of state, activists and heads of company in different countries.
And last week, the Israeli judiciary announced the opening of an investigation into the use of spyware by the police following assertions to this effect in the local press.
Departure of the CEO last November
On Tuesday, NSO confirmed to AFP the departure of its executive director, Asher Levy, in office since 2020. “But there is no connection between my departure and recent publications related to NSO”, said Mr. Levy in a statement sent to AFP by the cybersecurity company based in the suburbs of the economic metropolis Tel Aviv.
He specifies that he was appointed to his position at the time by Novlepina Capital, then one of the main shareholders of NSO. “After a change of ownership and the transfer (of the shares) to the BRG fund (Berkeley Research Group, editor’s note) I announced to the new owners that I considered that it was better for them to appoint a new person to manage the represent”, Mr. Levy added.
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Last November, Isaac Benbenisti, vice-president promoted to CEO two weeks earlier, had slammed the door because of the group’s difficulties in the United States, thus pushing its founder Shalev Hulio to resume his position at the head of NSO.