Dozens of high-profile politicians and activists across Europe have been targeted for surveillance with the infamous Pegasus spyware, according to new research, with the reported victims including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a number of Catalan independence leaders in Spain. Findings published on Monday by Toronto-based cyber research firm …
Read More »Poland admits buying Israeli Pegasus spyware
Poland’s most powerful lawmaker has admitted that his country purchased spyware from the controversial Israeli NSO Group. He denied it was being used to target politicians, however, claiming it was used by the secret services. Speaking to the weekly right-wing magazine Sieci, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s ruling Law …
Read More »Unit behind notorious Pegasus spyware on brink of shutdown – reports
On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the NSO Group’s owners were in talks for the refinancing and potential outright sale of the business, which is in danger of defaulting on its debts, citing sources familiar with the matter. Prospective buyers include two American funds that have discussed closing the Pegasus unit …
Read More »Apple sues Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware
“State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, said on Tuesday, announcing the lawsuit. The complaint was filed in the federal court in San Jose, California and provides …
Read More »Pegasus-style spyware found on thousands of smartphones
Used by governments worldwide to spy on rival politicians, foreign powers, journalists, lawyers, and business figures, NSO Group’s Pegasus malware has gotten significant media attention since its existence was revealed earlier this year by activists. While the Israeli firm has found itself maligned by the press and blacklisted by Washington, …
Read More »Israeli spyware giant NSO group added to US trade blacklist along with three others
NSO and fellow Israeli spyware firm Candiru have been added to the US’ “entity list,” a trade blacklist that restricts the shipment of US tech to listed companies. The Department of Commerce declared on Wednesday that the designation of both firms was “based on evidence that these entities developed and …
Read More »French finance minister says Pegasus spyware may have infected govt devices, including his own phone
In an interview on Friday, Le Maire acknowledged that French investigators were looking into the possible security breach, which may have even extended to the minister’s own phone. “We are in an investigation phase, and that includes my own device,” he told France Inter radio on Friday. He declined to …
Read More »Israel tells France it takes NSO spyware allegations ‘seriously’ after defense ministers discuss Pegasus affair
Gantz met Parly on Wednesday during a brief visit to France. Ahead of the talks, a French government spokesperson said Parly would “seize the opportunity” and grill Israel’s defense chief on his government’s knowledge about the Pegasus spyware, sold worldwide by Israeli company NSO Group. The two parties were quite …
Read More »Snowden grills WaPo for ‘embarrassingly weak’ reaction to NSO spyware scandal, says it’s untrue Pegasus can’t target US phones
The former US intelligence contractor expressed dismay over a WaPo editorial in response to reports that NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm, sold its Pegasus spyware to government clients who then used the powerful hacking tool to spy on journalists, NGOs workers and even heads of state. The explosive allegations, …
Read More »US blaming China for Microsoft hack is an obvious deflection from the Pegasus spyware scandal
On Monday, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union accused China of being behind a hack of Microsoft’s servers in March. Without evidence, the allies said Beijing had been involved in “malicious cyber activity,” although they stopped short of implementing any sanctions. China responded by calling the …
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