Surveillance firm pitched US police departments on a remote phone hacking tool

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Surveillance firm pitched US police on a remote phone hacking tool that would let them access a person’s text messages, emails, microphone, camera, and more

  • Leaked emails show the San Diego police considered using a phone hacking tool
  • The tool was developed by the US subsidiary of the Israeli surveillance firm NSO
  • The hacking tool would have given remote access to apps, messages, the phone camera, microphone, and allowed police to intercept a person’s calls

By Michael Thomsen For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

The San Diego Police Department considered using a hacking tool that would have given them remote access to a  person’s smartphone messages, contacts, photos, and more.

The hacking tool, called Phantom, promised an ‘intelligence gold mine’ for the ‘investigative and special support offices’ of the SDPD.

‘[S]ounds awesome,’ SDPD Sergeant David Meyer wrote in an email response to the pitch, which came from a company called Westbridge, the US subsidiary of the NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm whose technology was reportedly used in the Saudi plot to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The US division of the Israeli surveillance firm NSO pitched a powerful phone hacking tool to the San Diego Police Department, which promised access to a person’s text messages, emails, social media, camera app, and more

A brochure for the tool, which was obtained by Vice, says it works on a range of iOS and Android devices and would give police remote access to a person’s text messages, emails, contact lists, GPS data, and social media apps.

The tool could also be used to turn on the phone’s microphone without the user knowing, covertly take pictures through its camera app, and even intercept calls–all while leaving ‘no trace whatsoever on the device.’

The company promises that Phantom can get around encryption, SSL protocols, or ‘any hurdle introduced by the complex communications world.’

A former NSO employee told Vice that Phantom is essentially a rebranded version of the company’s Pegasus hacking tool, which has been used by authorities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and elsewhere.

The SDPD ultimately declined the pitch in 2016, telling Westbridge they ‘simply do not have the kind of funds to move forward on such a large scale project.’

SDPD Lieutenant Shawn Takeuchi said even if the department had acquired the Phantom, it would have been used only after obtaining search warrants.

The SDPD was initially enthusiastic about the hacking tool but ultimately decided to pass out of cost concerns, saying '[we] simply do not have the kind of funds to move forward on such a large scale project'

The SDPD was initially enthusiastic about the hacking tool but ultimately decided to pass out of cost concerns, saying ‘[we] simply do not have the kind of funds to move forward on such a large scale project’

‘The San Diego Police Department quite often engages in conversations with vendors who are attempting to sell a product or service so that we can provide the highest quality of police services to our communities,’ Takeuchi said in a statement.

‘Conversations happen routinely and in 2016, Sergeant Meyer’s role was to evaluate vendors who contacted us.’

Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon said the pitch was proof of the need for aggressive government oversight of how police use new surveillance technologies.

‘Government hacking is among the most invasive forms of surveillance – tracking someone’s movements, turning on their webcam and microphone, or accessing photos and other sensitive data on a phone or computer,’ Wyden said in a statement to The Register.

‘These tools are ripe for abuse, for example, by a law enforcement officer to spy on an ex.’

‘Congress must conduct aggressive oversight into the proliferation of these spying technologies and their use by state and local agencies.’