Journalists, activists targeted by Israeli spyware — reports
July 19, 2021
NSO Group's Pegasus malware was abused by its government clients to spy on journalists, opposition politicians and rights activists, an investigation revealed. The targets also include presidents and prime ministers.
Israeli NSO group denied the allegations and threatened media outlets with defamation lawsuitsImage: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Iamges
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An investigation by an international consortium of journalists published Sunday revealed that activists, journalists, politicians, and business executives from around the world were targeted by a military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group.
NSO Group's flagship Pegasus spyware had been allegedly abused by its clients, mainly governments, the extent of which was reported by multiple media outlets who collaborated on an investigation into a data leak.
The leaked database contains a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers believed to be those of persons of interest by multiple government clients of NSO since 2016, news reports said.
Paris-based non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International had initially accessed the list and later shared it with media partners as part of the Pegasus Project, the Guardian newspaper said.
The British paper added that the mention of a phone number did not mean the corresponding phone was infected by Pegasus, or that there was an attempted hack. But the consortium believed the list was indicative of potential targets of NSO clients.
Media outlets participating in the project were able to identify about 1,000 individuals from 50 countries who were potential targets of NSO clients.
They included 85 human rights activists, 189 journalists, at least 65 business executives, and more than 600 politicians and government officials including presidents, prime ministers, and cabinet ministers.
What is Pegasus?
Pegasus is reportedly a highly invasive tool by NSO, the world's most infamous hacker-for-hire outfit. The firm's spyware is used to spy on people through their smartphones.
It works by sending an exploit link to the target user, which if clicked downloads malware or code onto the device without the user's knowledge or permission.
WhatsApp attacked
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Once the malware is installed, the hacker has complete access to the target's phone. This includes private data, including passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, and live voice calls.
It even can switch on a target's phone camera and microphone.
According to reports, the malware can even be installed without the target clicking the "exploit link."
Targets in India, Mexico
NSO clients not only included totalitarian states such as Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan, but also democracies including India and Mexico.
The Wire, an Indian news website and member of the consortium, reported that 300 mobile phones used in India were on the list.
The phone numbers were used by cabinet ministers, opposition politicians, journalists, lawyers, businessmen, scientists, and rights activists, the news website said.
More than 40 Indian journalists from major publications including The Hindu, the Indian Express, and two founding editors of The Wire, were among people whose numbers were on the list.
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In 2019, a study by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab revealed that the Indian government was spying on lawyers, activists, and journalists using the Pegasus software via WhatsApp.
The Indian government had denied the allegations after WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against NSO in the United States, in which the messenger app confirmed the details reported by Citizen Lab.
The Washington Post, another member of the consortium, reported that 10,000 phone numbers on the list were from Mexico, belonging to politicians, union representatives, journalists, and government critics.
One of them was a Mexican freelance journalist who was murdered at a carwash. His cellphone was never found, and it could not be confirmed if it was infected with Pegasus.
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Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée targeted
Amnesty International reported that the spyware was successfully installed on the phone of two women close to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. Pegasus infected Cengiz's phone just four days before he was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018, the report said.
This is the second time NSO has been implicated in spying on Khashoggi.
Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he disappeared at the Istanbul consulate on October 2. DW traces the most important events in this intricate case.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Martin
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
Image: Reuters TV
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi's whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia" to kill the man.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist's disappearance.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Kovacs
'Davos in the Desert' hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group's space ventures, citing Khashoggi's case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the "Davos in the Desert." His move was followed by Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom's public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a "fistfight." He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is "investigating the regrettable and painful incident."
Image: Getty Images/C. McGrath
'Grave mistake'
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom's foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation," calling it a "huge and grave mistake," but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi's body was.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi's death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. E. Yildirim
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi's murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist's death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was "unable to express her sorrow" upon learning that the journalist's body was dissolved with chemicals. "Are these killers and those behind it human beings?" she tweeted.
Image: Reuters/Haberturk
Turkey shares audio recordings
November 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals that officials from Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, France and Britain have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Presidential Press Service
Symbolic funeral prayers
November 16: A symbolic funeral prayer for Khashoggi is held in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Yasin Aktay, advisor to President Erdogan, speaks at the service.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi-owned villas searched
November 26: Turkish forensic police bring the investigation to the Turkish province of Yalova, where sniffer dogs and drones search two Saudi-owned villas in the village Samanli.
Image: Reuters/O . Orsal
100 days since killing
January 10: Amnesty International Turkey members demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, marking 100 day since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. One woman holds up a street sign which reads "Jamal Khashoggi Street". The organization has called for an international investigation into the case.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi murder trial begins
January 3: The Khashoggi trial begins in Saudi Arabia, where state prosecutors say they will seek the death sentence for five of the eleven suspects. A request for the gathered evidence has been send to Turkish authorities. A date for the second hearing has not yet been set.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/Depo Photos
UN inquiry team in Turkey
January 28: Agnes Callamard, who is leading the UN probe into the handling of the Khashoggi case, arrives in Ankara where she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The human rights expect will stay in the country for the rest of the week to speak with prosecutors and others involved in the case.
In January 2020, United Nations experts called for an official investigation into reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had the phone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos hacked.
Bezos' phone was presumably hacked to keep tabs on the reporting of the Post, for which Khashoggi wrote.
NSO issues denial
The Israeli firm issued a denial on Sunday, calling the report by Forbidden Stories "full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories."
The company even threatened to file a defamation lawsuit.
"We firmly deny the false allegations made in their report," NSO said.
"As NSO has previously stated, our technology was not associated in any way with the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi," it said.
"We would like to emphasize that NSO sells its technologies solely to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of vetted governments for the sole purpose of saving lives through preventing crime and terror acts."
