Israel says countries interested in buying its cyber systems must commit to terrorism

JERUSALEM Reuters -- Israel said on Monday that countries interested in buying its cyber technologies would have to commit to using them to prevent a limited list of terrorist acts and serious crimes.

The move by Israel's Defence Ministry was the latest step in enhancing its oversight after concerns about possible abuses abroad of a hacking tool sold by Israeli firms like NSO Group.

An updated certificate to be signed by purchasing countries lists in detail what qualifies as terrorist acts like attacks on people, public facilities, seizures of aircraft, the release of dangerous substances, as well as serious crimes relating to those that warrant imprisonment of six years or more.

The Defence Ministry said that the definitions for serious crimes and terrorist acts have been sharpened in order to prevent the blurring of boundaries in this context.

It also spells out uses that are prohibited - like targeting people for political affiliation or applications that break the country's privacy laws - for which Israel could revoke licences and shut down the systems.

Israel has been under pressure since July to reduce its exports of spyware, after a group of international news organisations reported that NSO's Pegasus tool had been used to hack into phones of journalists, government officials and rights activists in several countries.

Israel was asked to review cyber export policy, which was administered by the Defence Ministry.

Israel was reported to have slashed the list of countries that could buy its cyber technologies last month.

NSO has safeguards in place to prevent misuse, but it sells its tools only to governments and law enforcement agencies, and is not guilty of any wrongdoing.