According to a report from The New York Times on Saturday, several agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation worked to hasten the rollout of Pegasus, the notorious phone-hacking programme created by Israel's NSO Group.

According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the newspaper, FBI officials pushed for the employment of the hacking tools in late 2020 and the first part of 2021.

The article stated that the officials 'made advanced plans to brief the bureau's leadership and drew up federal prosecutors' rules about how the FBI's use of hacking tools would need to be disclosed during criminal prosecutions.'

According to the report, it was not apparent whether the FBI intended to use the technology on Americans or people from other countries. The FBI examined NSO's Phantom software, which has the ability to hack US phones, earlier this year, the newspaper reported.

After learning that NSO's hackware had been connected to human rights abuses all around the world and as unfavourable press about the technology grew, the FBI ultimately opted against utilising it, according to the article.

The article added that the recommendations allowing the use of Pegasus 'under certain particular scenarios' were explained in an internal memo circulated by the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division on March 29, 2021. The department also put up recommendations for government attorneys who must deal with spyware use.

The programme was first made public by the FBI in January. Since then, the agency has claimed that Pegasus was merely acquired so that it could be evaluated for potential use by US adversaries. According to the report, the agency has given NSO almost $5 million.

Tens of thousands of journalists, politicians, business executives, and human rights activists were reportedly listed as potential targets of NSO's Pegasus software, which has caused controversy for the Israeli company that developed Pegasus.

Smartphones infected with Pegasus are essentially transformed into pocket spying gadgets, enabling the user to read the target's messages, browse through their photos, track their location, and even remotely turn on their camera and microphone.

According to NSO, it exclusively sells Pegasus to governments to combat crime and terrorism. The Defense Ministry must approve each sale. It asserts that it has measures in place to stop abuse and that it has ended numerous contracts because Pegasus has been used improperly.