NSO Group’s CEO Steps down, 100 Employees Laid off

Israeli spyware manufacturer NSO Group starts large-scale reorganisation in an attempt to improve company's reputation after years of negative publicity, blacklists and lawsuits.

As part of reorganisation process, the company's CEO Shalev Hulio is leaving his position and 100 employees are being let go, the company announced.

In a statement, NSO said that Hulio, one of the company’s founders, will remain in the company and be in charge of mergers and acquisitions, while Yaron Shohat, the company’s chief operating officer, will lead the firm on an interim basis and manage the reorganization process.

The reorganization will examine all aspects of its business, including streamlining its operations to ensure NSO remains one of the world’s leading high-tech cyber intelligence companies, focusing on NATO-member countries.

the company said in a statement to Israeli media Calcalist.

Also, a company official said that 100 employees, or roughly 13 percent of NSO’s workforce, would be dismissed.

According to Calcalist, despite recent rumors that NSO is on the verge of bankruptcy, it will end 2022 with revenue of around $150 million. The Israeli cybersecurity sector's losses are due to the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s decision to reduce the number of licenses for the sale of offensive cyber.

Critics, including human rights groups and outside researchers, say customers have abused Pegasus to keep tabs on journalists, rights activists, and political dissidents around the world, including many MENA nations. NSO does not identify its clients. But the company has acknowledged cutting off at least seven customers for abusing its technology. These reportedly have included authorities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

NSO has been under especially intense scrutiny since last year. Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, Apple and Cisco have either taken legal action against NSO or have severely criticized its practices of circumventing security for products made by these companies and selling that circumvention in the form of hacking tools to foreign governments.