US Federal Blacklist – Entity List

Subject – IR

Context – Israeli spyware company NSO Group, the maker of phone-hacking tool Pegasus, has been added to a federal blacklist

Concept –

Israeli spyware company NSO Group, the maker of phone-hacking tool Pegasus, has been added to a federal blacklist by the US Department of Commerce, thereby restricting it from accessing America-made technologies.
The Israeli companies were added to the list “based on evidence that these entities developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers”.
Being added to the Entity List means the companies will not be able to access American hardware and software.

Does this decision mean anything for India?

An official from the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that though addition of companies to the list does not outright bar any non-US company or country from doing business with such companies, most “avoid” doing business for the “fear of sanctions”.
Last month, the Supreme Court of India appointed a committee presided by Justice (Retd.) R V Raveendran to inquire into the Pegasus revelations.