NSO Group, the infamous Israeli spy ware vendor, will not enable its shoppers to hack residents of the United Kingdom, sources near the corporate told The Guardian this week. The modifications have been “hard-coded” into NSO’s notorious malware, Pegasus, and can make future concentrating on of UK-based cellphone numbers not possible, the sources declare.

Such abrupt modifications have doubtlessly been spurred by a recent British hacking scandal involving Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, the daughter of the king of Jordan and the previous spouse of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. After leaving Dubai and fleeing to London in 2019, Haya’s cellphone was hacked repeatedly on the behest of her ex-husband, Sheik Mohammed, whereas the previous couple had been concerned in a baby custody battle over their two kids. Five of Haya’s associates had been additionally hacked, together with two of her attorneys. The case spilled out into public view once more this week, when a British senior excessive court docket choose ruled that the hacking incident had occurred and that NSO’s malware had been concerned.

As a consequence, sources near the spy ware vendor now say that modifications made to the corporate’s software program make sure that its shoppers will not be allowed to focus on cellphone numbers primarily based within the United Kingdom: “We shut down completely, hard-coded into the system [Pegasus], to all of our customers. We released a quick update in the middle of the night that none of our customers can work on UK numbers,” the supply apparently told The Guardian. The replace blocks hacking of telephones with the area’s nation code: +44.

This is… good, if true. However, it’s unclear why the corporate wouldn’t simply come out and make an official assertion, as an alternative of permitting unofficial sources to make claims to the press.

The firm underwent a shitstorm of worldwide criticism earlier this 12 months after the launch of the “Pegasus Project,” a world collaboration between journalists and researchers that exposed the extent to which NSO’s spy ware is used all through the world. The undertaking was primarily based largely upon a listing of some 50,000 cellphone numbers that researchers say signify “potential targets” of Pegasus surveillance. The record, which NSO has denied is reputable, contained the numbers of presidents, prime ministers, and a king, amongst others. For years, the corporate has maintained that its product is simply used to trace and surveil “terrorists” and different criminals, however time and time once more, Pegasus has been found on the units of political activists, human rights attorneys, journalists, politicians and businessmen.

NSO Group has also long maintained that it doesn’t enable its malware for use towards residents of the United States—and that telephones with +1 nation code are unhackable with its merchandise. However, in January of final 12 months, it was reported that the FBI was “investigating the role” of NSO in “possible hacks on American residents and companies.” It turned out that investigation involved then Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, whose cellphone was, based on stories, personally hacked by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, probably to steal intimate messages and pictures, like photos of the tech mogul’s dick. It was suspected on the time that NSO’s malware was the product used within the episode, although the corporate repeatedly denied that it had any involvement.