The investigation to uncover Pegasus’ espionage
The non-profit organization Forbidden Stories managed to obtain data on over 50 thousand mobile numbers, analyzed them with the help of experts from the CitizenLab of the University of Toronto. And he then shared them with 17 large international media groups, thus proving that more than a thousand people in at least 50 countries have been selected to be monitored: among these – according to the Washington Post, a newspaper involved in the operation – there are more of 600 politicians and government officials, several heads of state, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists, and at least 189 journalists from Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, al-Jazeera, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, Financial Times and other important newspapers.
From the latest revelations it emerges that among the possible targets of the hackers there are at least three presidents and three heads of government currently in office, seven former prime ministers and the sovereign of Morocco. In addition to Macron, the list includes former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, current president of the European Council; Iraqi President Barham Salih; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan; that of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly and that of Morocco Saad-Eddine El Othmani. Also present were some former prime ministers, including that of Lebanon Saad Hariri and that of Uganda Ruhakana Rugunda. To complete the list also the king of Morocco Mohammed VI, the former president of Mexico Felipe Calderon and the US diplomat Robert Malley, former chief negotiator at the table of the Iran nuclear deal in July 2005.
The lists also include the family members of Jamal Kashoggi, the Saudi journalist murdered in Istanbul by the Riyadh hitmen in 2018; and Cecilio Pineda Birto, a Mexican journalist killed in 2017.
The involvement of governments
The Nso company reiterated, supported by the Israeli government, that it only sells to “controlled government agencies”, denying access to its customers’ data. Among these customers would be 11 states: Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico, Rwanda, Togo and Hungary.
According to the Hungarian investigation site Direkt36, which participated in the analysis of the data, more than 300 journalists, lawyers, managers and opponents of Prime Minister Viktor Orban were spied on in Hungary. However, the Budapest government denied any involvement.
“Nso spyware is a weapon available to repressive governments who want to silence journalists, attack activists and crush dissent, putting countless human lives at risk,” said Amnesty’s secretary general, Agnes Callamard, denouncing “The total lack of rules in the technology surveillance industry.”