Rabat - Citizen Lab Canada suspects a Saudi operator of using Pegasus spyware on phones in 11 countries, including Morocco. According to a new report, the Israel-based cyber warfare vendor NSO Group produces and markets “Pegasus mobile phone spyware suits.”
Rabat – Citizen Lab Canada suspects a Saudi operator of using Pegasus spyware on phones in 11 countries, including Morocco.
According to a new report, the Israel-based cyber warfare vendor NSO Group produces and markets “Pegasus mobile phone spyware suits.”
Customers can buy Pegasus to target victims using mobile software on Androids and Iphones, sending “specially crafted exploit links.”
The software customers can access data from infected mobiles, including chats, emails, and photos.
Pegasus can also give customers access to microphones and cameras.
The report identified 120 ISPs in 45 countries “with likely infections and 10 Pegasus systems whose operators were engaging in suspected cross-border monitoring.”
Citizen Lab Canada investigated Pegasus “infection” cases across the world and honed in on one especially active operator who “appeared to be operating in the interests of Saudi Arabia.” The group inferred the operator’s affiliation because infections targeted Saudi Amnesty International researcher Yahya Assiri and dissident Omar Abdulaziz.
The suspected Saudi operator was also “actively monitoring targets in Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Turkey and the UK.
