Shalev Hulio 创立了以色列的 NSO Group，其 Pegasus 间谍软体—大约在 15 年前打造—之后被报导称被约 50 个国家的政府用来锁定记者、人权行动者与异议人士。Meta 于 2019 年就 WhatsApp 起诉 NSO；美国于 2021 年将 NSO 列入商务部实体清单；Hulio 于 2022 年下台。在 Meta 案中，惩罚性赔偿先定为 1.67 亿美元，后在上诉中降至 400 万美元，并伴随禁止锁定 WhatsApp；据报 NSO 约有 5 亿美元债务。
Hulio 随后与前奥地利总理 Sebastian Kurz 及 Gil Dolev 共同创立 Dream Security，销售针对关键基础设施的 AI 防御，而非间谍软体。Dream 已募资超过 1 亿美元，估值达 10 亿美元以上，并称去年在 6 个国家取得 1.2 亿美元营收；Hulio 目标今年达 2 亿美元。约 10% 员工来自前 NSO，其以 LLM 驱动的平台能绘制网路并在仅需有限存取下，标记配置错误与权限过高的休眠帐号。
政治与资金正在转向：美国对 NSO 的黑名单在 Donald Trump 任内仍未解除，但美国私募股权正在收购间谍软体公司，而大西洋理事会于 9 月的研究称美国已超越以色列，成为间谍软体的最大投资者。NSO 表示引入新的美国投资人，并任命前美国驻以大使 David Friedman 为执行董事长。Dream 计划把范围扩至军事与核设施并于 2026 年进入美国市场，押注对关键基础设施攻击（例如 Salt Typhoon）以及 2025 年 DHS 威胁评估中点名中国、伊朗与俄罗斯的忧虑将推升需求——但批评者警告防御工具也可能具有攻击性的两面性。
Shalev Hulio founded Israel’s NSO Group, whose Pegasus spyware—built roughly 15 years ago—was later reported used by governments in about 50 countries to target journalists, activists, and dissidents. Meta sued NSO in 2019 over WhatsApp; the US put NSO on the Commerce Department Entity List in 2021; Hulio stepped down in 2022. In the Meta case, punitive damages were set at $167 million, then cut on appeal to $4 million, alongside a ban on targeting WhatsApp; NSO is reported to have about $500 million in debt.
Hulio then co-founded Dream Security with former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Gil Dolev, selling AI-based defense for critical infrastructure rather than spyware. Dream has raised >$100 million, is valued at $1B+, and says it made $120 million revenue last year from six countries; Hulio targets $200 million this year. About 10% of staff are ex-NSO, and its LLM-driven platform maps networks and flags misconfigurations and over-privileged dormant accounts with limited access.
Politics and money are shifting: the US blacklist still stands under Donald Trump, yet US private equity is buying spyware firms, and Atlantic Council research (September) says the US has overtaken Israel as the top spyware investor. NSO said it brought in new US investors and named former US ambassador David Friedman executive chairman. Dream plans to add military and nuclear sites and enter the US in 2026, betting that critical-infrastructure attacks (e.g., Salt Typhoon) and a 2025 DHS threat assessment citing China, Iran, and Russia will lift demand—though critics warn defensive tools can have offensive flip sides.