An aerial view shows the logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel July 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

i24 News – Apple announced on Tuesday that the US tech company is suing Israeli spyware maker NSO Group for the “surveillance and targeting of Apple users” and is seeking to block access to its mobile devices.

The cyber firm developed a spyware product called Pegasus that enables government agencies and law enforcement to hack smartphones and read data on the devices.

Several reports surfaced over the summer alleging that Pegasus was used by various countries to target human rights activists and journalists.

The lawsuit also includes NSO Group’s parent company Q Cyber Technologies.

“State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, said in a statement.

Apple also announced a $10 million contribution to organizations involved in cyber-surveillance research and advocacy.

Earlier this month, the United States Commerce Department announced that the NSO Group was being added to a federal trade blacklist for acting “contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US.”