Hungary, Israel and Algeria on Thursday probed allegations that Israeli-made spyware was used on journalists, rights activists and 14 heads of state, as French President Emmanuel Macron ordered tighter security and changed his phone over espionage concerns.
Macron — whose name was on a list of alleged targets — ordered “a strengthening of all security protocols” following a specially convened meeting of the French Defence and National Security Council, his office said.
Macron “has himself changed his phone and number for certain exchanges,” it said.
Photo: Reuters
The NSO Group’s Pegasus software — able to switch on a phone’s camera or microphone and harvest its data — is at the center of a growing storm after a list of about 50,000 potential surveillance targets was leaked to rights groups.
Amnesty International and French media nonprofit Forbidden Stories collaborated with a clutch of media companies, including the Washington Post, the Guardian and Le Monde, to analyses and publish the list. The widening scandal is drawing in countries from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Morocco, India and a host of other mostly emerging economies.
Hungary was the only EU country listed as a potential user of the spyware, with hundreds of targets including journalists, lawyers and other public figures.
Hungarian prosecutors said they had opened a probe “to establish the facts and to determine whether and, if so, what crime has taken place,” the Budapest Regional Investigation Prosecutor’s Office said.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto has insisted that the government “has no knowledge of such data collection,” while some critics decried the move as a time-wasting maneuver.
“They have years to investigate if they want... This is merely an administrative step,” said Andras Lederer of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
NSO insists its software is only intended for use in fighting terrorism and other crimes, and that it exports to 45 countries, with approval from the Israeli government.
The Israeli government said it has set up a commission to review the software.
Algeria’s public prosecutor also ordered an investigation into media reports that the north African country might have been a target.
“NSO’s spyware is a weapon of choice for repressive governments seeking to silence journalists, attack activists and crush dissent,” Amnesty International secretary-general Agnes Callamard said.
Evidence of an attempted hacking was found on the phone of former French minister of ecology and close Macron ally Francois de Rugy, with the attempt allegedly originating in Morocco, according to media reports.
Morocco is suing Amnesty and Forbidden Stories in France and “does not intend to let the multiple lies and fake news spread these past few days go unpunished,” said Olivier Baratelli, a lawyer for the government.
A first hearing is set for Oct. 8, although a trial might not open for another two years.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates dismissed allegations of their involvement.
The Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the allegations “are categorically false” and “have no evidentiary basis.”
Saudi Arabia’s SPA news agency reported an official source saying that “such allegations are untrue, and that [the country’s] policies do not condone such practices.”
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