Here's what we know about the secretive company building terrifying tools to hack your iPhone

AnIsraeli company named NSO Group is reportedly behind the hacking tool for iPhones that forced Apple to issue a critical software update on Thursday.Thetool was apparently discoveredin a hacking attempt on a human rights activist in the United Arab Emirates,but details on the ultra-secretive company are hard to come by.That's because NSO Group sells sophisticated hacking tools to governments, militaries, and intelligence agenciesand it tries to keep such a low profile it evenchanges its name on a regular basis.Its profile is likely to be raised in the wake of in-depth research by Lookout Security and Citizen Lab'sBill Marczak and John Scott-Railton, who exposed a major iOS security flaw that allows an attacker to take full control of an iPhone using nothing more than a text message.NSO Group cofounders Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio did not respond to a request for comment.Here's what we know so far.SEE ALSO:The NSA hack proves Apple was right to fight the FBINSO Group was founded in late 2009 by serial entrepreneurs with ties to the Israeli government.Headquartered inHerzelia, Israel, NSO Group was founded in Dec. 2009 by Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, according to both cofounders' LinkedIn profiles, which show they are both serial entrepreneurs who had previously starteda number of other companies in Israel. A third founder, Niv Carmi, left the company shortly after its inception and left Lavie and Hulio as majority shareholders.TheSan Francisco-based private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in NSO for $120 million in 2014, though its operations remain in Israel.Hulio says on his LinkedIn profile he was a company commander with the Israel Defense Forces, while Lavie says he was an employee of the Israeli government.At least three of its current employees claim to haveworked in Unit 8200, Israel's version of the US National Security Agency.It's hard to figure out what the company actually does.The company describes itself in vague terms on its LinkedIn, saying it is "a unique company in the field of Internet security software solutions and security research. It is responsible for many unique developments on both mobile and PC environments. The company also specializes in creating highly sought solutions in the mobile and PC controlled environments."Though that description offers little of substance, the profile's listed specialties of internet security, mobile security, cyber threats, and penetration testing give a better idea of the high-tech spying tools it develops.NSO currently employs more than 120 people, according to itsnumbers on LinkedIn. That's more than double the head count it had two years ago.But clearly, the company's specialty is the field of 'cyber warfare.'A brochure uploaded online by Privacy International from the company gives more insight into what it really does, which is to offer mobile hacking solutions for a variety of phones exclusively for the use of governments, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies.NSO Group says it is "a leader in the field of cyber warfare" that utilizes its proprietary monitoring tool it calls "Pegasus," which can monitor and extract all data from a target "via untraceable commands" which allow "remote and stealth."See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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