Journalists targeted with Pegasus yet again
Dr. Martin Shelton
February 7, 2024
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Mercenary spyware firm NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, designed to remotely access targeted smartphones, is marketed to governments around the world for the purposes of law enforcement and counterterrorism. But in the wild, we’ve seen governments repeatedly abuse this and similar spyware tools to infect journalists, spying on their most sensitive files, communications, and sources.
Access Now, as part of a joint analysis with the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, released a report examining traces of Pegasus spyware on the mobile devices of at least 30 Jordanian journalists, activists, lawyers, and civil society members. Further work included in the report by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project highlights five individuals targeted with Pegasus malware, for a total of 35 victims. Of those, 16 were journalists. The report says, "We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the use of Pegasus spyware in Jordan, and that the true number of victims is likely much higher." Read the report here.
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Best,
Martin