Several journalists and activists critical of the Kremlin and its allies have been targeted by EU states. Pegasus, a hacking spyware created by the Israeli NSO Group, was used in these attacks.
The hacking campaign affected individuals in the EU, Russia, Belarus, Latvia, and Israel. Targets only discovered the cyber intrusion after receiving threat notifications from Apple on their iPhones.
Pegasus, a sophisticated cyber weapon, is operated by countries that obtained the technology from NSO. While the company claims it’s for fighting crime, researchers have documented cases where it was used for spying on political opponents and journalists.
Although the recent hacking attacks couldn’t be definitively tied to a specific nation state, technical indicators suggest they may be linked to the same NSO client. This follows a previous report revealing the use of Pegasus to target a Russian journalist.
The investigation into the cyberattack was conducted by Access Now, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, and security analyst Nikolai Kvantariani.
Once deployed, Pegasus can access various phone features, including calls, photos, location, and turn the device into a listening tool.
NSO Group was blacklisted in 2021 and faces legal challenges from WhatsApp and Apple. While Russia is suspected of the recent attacks, researchers focus on EU involvement, ruling out Russia and Belarus as NSO customers.
Belarusian activist Andrei Sannikov and editor Natalia Radzina were among those targeted. Sannikov expressed concerns about possible infiltration of Western agencies by Russia or its allies.
NSO claims to sell spyware only to vetted law enforcement agencies to prevent crime and terrorism. The company pledged to investigate any misuse of its systems and prioritize human rights protection.
Source: www.theguardian.com
