Art Collective Forensic Architecture Has Teamed Up With Edward Snowden to Investigate a Shadowy Global Spyware Company – artnet News

Three years ago, Yana Peel abruptly resigned as director of the Serpentine Galleries in London after reports connected hervis--vis her husbands private equity firmto NSO Group, a controversial Israeli cybersecurity company known for its flagship spyware that allows users to hack unsuspecting cell phones. Those who have raised alarm about the group describe it as analogous to gun manufacturers prior to U.S. firearm regulations: a weapons merchant operating indiscriminately within a legal system ill-equipped to control it.

Peels relationship to the company, it turned out, was tenuous. (She owns an indirect and passive interest in Novalpina, the investment fund that acquired the NSO Group in 2019, but has had no involvement with the Israeli company.) The Guardianone of the first publications to report on the directors alleged involvementissued a rare retraction saying as much.

And yet Peels resignation from the Serpentine represented an important milestone in the 11-year history of the Israeli company, according to Eyal Weizman, founding director of the investigative art collective Forensic Architecture: it marked the first moment of accountability to any actions related to the NSO Group.

If Weizman and his group have their way, this instance of accountability likely wont be the last. This month, Forensic Architecture unveiled its newest project: an interactive platform that charts thousands of instances of so-called digital violence tied to the NSO Groupas well as the events, private interests, and other forces that have empowered the company along the way.

Its part art, part legal resourceone that, like other Forensic Architecture projects, may well be employed as evidence in a courtroom one day. The Turner Prize-nominated research lab has previously trained its eyes on subjects ranging from Russian military activity in Ukraine and U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. The new project is the most comprehensive database ever assembled dedicated to whats been called the worlds most notorious surveillance company.

Rounding out the artsier features of Digital Violence, as the platform is titled, are video investigations narrated by Edward Snowden; interviews with activists, journalists, and lawyers worldwide who have been the subject of targeted hacks; and a sound piece composed by Brian Eno. Laura Poitras, the Academy Award-winning director of Citizenfour,the documentary about Snowden, has also made a short film about the project, which is set to debut at Cannes Film Festival this month.

Courtesy of Forensic Architecture.

A missed call or a strange text: these are perhaps the only signs that your phone has been infected by Pegasus, the name of the NSO Groups signature software, according to Forensic Architectures lead researcher Shourideh Molavi. After that, the users on the other end have access to virtually everything on your deviceyour calls and texts; your passwords and GPS information; your network of friends, family, and colleagues. They can even tap into your camera and microphone, enabling real-time surveillance. This is what Forensic Architectures members have dubbed digital violence.

Were used to examining missiles, tanks, bullets, Molavi told Artnet News. Now, were dealing with a kind of state violence that you cannot see, that is difficult to detectthat doesnt require any agency from the user, and thats privately funded and sold by a private company. All of these things make for a dangerous package of human rights violations.

Often, physical violence isnt far away. What Forensic Architectures platform makes clear is that instances of Pegasus-related digital violence are often accompanied by real-world attacks, be it in the form of break-ins, lawsuits, or arrests. In interviews, hacking victims recall the psychological and emotional toll of being infected: they become anxious, have trouble sleeping, and feel like theyre constantly being watched.

Its hard for people to understand how a hack can have physical consequences, Molavi said. Its just your phone, right? But really, its your relationships, its your family, its your feeling of security, its your mental health.

Theres another crucial consideration, too: digital violence transcends geopolitical boundaries. Whereas states cant exercise judicial power outside the limits of their respective territories, Pegasus gives its users the power to terrorize almost anyone, anywhere, according to numerous reports on the product.

Despite challenges in court, Israels Ministry of Defense continues to grant the NSO Group export licenses; and the companys corporate structure has allowed it to put its signature product in markets in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and even the United States. NSO has yet to confirm any of its clients, but according to a report from Citizen Lab, Pegasus has been used in at least 45 countries worldwide since 2015.

Representatives from the NSO Group did not immediately respond to Artnet Newss request for comment, but in a statement to the Washington Post, a spokesperson for the company dismissed Forensic Architectures platform.

These are recycled claims, filled with inaccuracies and half-truths, the spokesperson said. The company investigates all credible claims of misuse, and takes appropriate action based on the results of its investigations. This includes shutting down a customers systema step NSO has taken several times in the past, and will not hesitate to take again if a situation warrants.

For Forensic Architecture and its allies, Digital Violence aims to do what international judicial organizations, traditional press outlets, and other authorities wontor cant.

During a recent event to inaugurate the platform at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, where Forensic Architecture is currently included in an exhibition on open-source investigation, Edward Snowden said: The investigation of not just the NSO group, but this sector and this technology, is the most important unwritten story in media today.

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Art Collective Forensic Architecture Has Teamed Up With Edward Snowden to Investigate a Shadowy Global Spyware Company - artnet News