The Sunday Read: 'The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon'
The Daily27 Feb 2022

The Sunday Read: 'The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon'

Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti investigate Pegasus, an Israeli spying tool that was acquired for use by the F.B.I., and which the United States government is now trying to ban.

Pegasus is used globally. For nearly a decade, NSO, an Israeli firm, had been selling this surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising to consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone.

The software has helped the authorities capture drug lords, thwart terrorist plots, fight organized crime, and, in one case, take down a global child-abuse ring, identifying suspects in more than 40 countries. But it has been prone to abuses of power: The Mexican government deployed Pegasus against journalists and political dissidents; and it was used to intercept communications with Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, whom Saudi operatives killed and dismembered in Istanbul in 2018.

Cyberweapons are here to stay — but their legacy is still to be determined.

This story was written by Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episoder(2795)

Why One Lawyer Resigned When His Firm Caved to Trump: An Update

Why One Lawyer Resigned When His Firm Caved to Trump: An Update

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since.President Trump has used executive orders to wage war on law firms, ...

29 Des 202524min

Sunday Special: The Best Movies of 2025

Sunday Special: The Best Movies of 2025

As 2025 comes to an end, The Sunday Special is looking back on the year in culture.This week, on our final episode of the podcast, we’re talking about movies. The potential acquisition of Warner Broth...

28 Des 202554min

Marriage and Sex in the Age of Ozempic: An Update

Marriage and Sex in the Age of Ozempic: An Update

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since.In the past few years, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Zepb...

26 Des 202520min

Trump Goes After Venezuela’s Oil

Trump Goes After Venezuela’s Oil

In it escalating campaign against Venezuela, the Trump administration has gone from shooting drug boats to trying to seize oil tankers in the Caribbean.Anatoly Kurmanaev, a foreign correspondent for T...

24 Des 202527min

The Origins of Jeffrey Epstein

The Origins of Jeffrey Epstein

The latest release of files related to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein left key questions unanswered about his rise to power and his connections to the president.David Enrich, an investigations edito...

23 Des 202529min

The Messy Reality of ‘Made in America’

The Messy Reality of ‘Made in America’

The construction of a giant factory complex in Arizona was supposed to embody the Trump administration’s ability to bring manufacturing back to the United States.But undertaking big projects is not as...

22 Des 202530min

Sunday Special: The Best TV of 2025

Sunday Special: The Best TV of 2025

In these final weeks of 2025, The Sunday Special is looking back at the year in culture.Today, we’re talking about the TV we watched this year — the best shows, the most popular ones and the ones that...

21 Des 20251h

'The Interview': Raja Shehadeh Believes Israelis and Palestinians Can Still Find Peace

'The Interview': Raja Shehadeh Believes Israelis and Palestinians Can Still Find Peace

The writer and lawyer has been documenting the occupation for decades. Somehow, he maintains hope.Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.comWatch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodc...

20 Des 202543min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
stopp-verden
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
popradet
det-store-bildet
rss-gukild-johaug
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
fotballpodden-2
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
nokon-ma-ga
grasoner-den-nye-kalde-krigen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk