An investigation published in 2021 found that Pegasus had been used by governments around the world to spy on activists, human rights defenders, journalists and politicians.
Euskaraz irakurri: Mundu osoko agintari politikoak, kazetariak eta ekintzaileak, Pegasusen jomugan
Pegasus is a cyber-espionage “malware” program that is installed on mobile devices and is capable of collecting all information on the spied device, taking almost complete control of the device without the user’s knowledge.
The program was developed by the Israeli company NSO technologies, founded in 2010 by former members of the Israeli intelligence services, they only sell it to governments and their security services.
In the summer of 2021, a global journalistic investigation revealed that Pegasus had been used by governments around the worldfrom Saudi Arabia to Mexico, to spy on activists, human rights defenders, journalists and politicians.
The works, coordinated by the French organization Forbidden stories With technical support from Amnesty International (AI), they sparked a wave of condemnations around the world, though the governments involved denied their relationship with the program’s unlawful use.
Nail 50,000 people were identified as potential targets of this program, including up to 180 journalists dedicated to investigating cases of corruption or human rights violations, as well as some leaders who did not escape.
In fact, the consortium stated that one of the French President’s mobile phones, Emmanuel Macronwas on a list of targets for this spy system and accused Morocco as a customer of that company.
The French government launched a verification process and French justice opened an investigation, while Rabat denied any involvement in the scandal.
One of the latest cases of alleged espionage by Pegasus is that of the American weekly The New Yorkerin April 2022, with data from The Citizen Lab, and according to which more than 60 Catalan and Basque pro-independence leaderswould have been the victim of the program.
Among the people spied on are the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonesthe former presidents Quim Torrac Yes Arthur Meerthe circle of Carles Puigdemont and the leader of EH Bildu, Arnaldo Otegic
They also confirmed this Monday that the mobile phones of the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchezand the Minister of Defence, Margaret Oakswere also subjected to “illegal and outside” wiretapping by Pegasus.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
