NSO Spyware Attacks UK Prime Minister’s Office-Information Technology

As reported by security researchers at Citizen Lab, spyware produced by the NSO Group has been used to attack a wide range of politicians and activists in Europe.

Devices linked to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s diplomatic offices and offices were reportedly targeted, as well as the phones of dozens of members of the Catalan independence movement.

Citizen Lab is a digital research unit of the University of Toronto that studies the bad side of the spyware industry.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Citizen Lab researchers say that mobile devices connected to the UK Foreign Office were attacked with Pegasus five times between July 2020 and June 2021. .

Similarly, a phone connected to the 10 Downing Street office, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson works, was attacked with malware in July 2020.

According to researchers, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is suspected of being behind the spyware attack at 10 Downing Street. Previously, the country was also accused of being involved in a number of other hacks using the Pegasus spyware.

NSO Group is the company that develops the Pegasus spyware. Photo: RFI

According to Citizen Lab, at least 65 people with links to the Catalan independence movement have been targeted with spyware. Of those, 63 are believed to have been hacked by Pegasus, while the rest were targeted by spyware developed by Candiru, another Israeli surveillance company.

Members of the European Parliament, legislators and jurists, members of civil society organizations and family members of those connected to the independence movement, are all believed to be targets. .

According to The New Yorker, NSO spyware is widely used in Europe. “Almost all the governments in Europe are using our tool,” NSO Group CEO Shalev Hulio said in an interview.

As always, NSO Group has denied any related allegations. The company has long said that its products are only used in law enforcement investigations, although there is still plenty of evidence against this.