The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday acknowledged that it acquired and tested a hacking tool made by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group, adding it did not actually use it for any investigation.
The surveillance firm, which makes the Pegasus spyware, has been embroiled in controversy after revelations that its tools were misused by governments, agencies, and most recently by the Israeli police, to hack the phones of politicians, dissidents, activists and citizens alike.
NSO on its part, claims it sells its products only to "vetted and legitimate" government clients, and that its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, pedophiles and hardened criminals.
The company is currently being sued by iPhone maker Apple Inc for violating its user terms and services agreement.
"The FBI procured a limited license for product testing and evaluation only, there was no operational use in support of any investigation," an FBI spokesperson said in a statement, confirming reports in The New York Times and UK daily The Guardian.
The FBI added that its license was no longer active.
The FBI's admission comes at an awkward time. Only last month the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center said in a statement posted to Twitter that software being peddled by surveillance firms was "being used in ways that pose a serious counterintelligence and security risk to U.S. personnel and systems."
In 2020, Reuters reported that the FBI was investigating the role of NSO in possible hacks on American residents and companies.
The FBI did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the status of the inquiry, which Reuters said had been underway since at least 2017.