The Guardian reports that the French cyber security agency ANSSI found traces of the Pegasus spyware on the mobile phones of three local media reporters. One of the mass media is preparing to start legal action.
The ANSSI investigation began with an investigative report into Project Pegasus published in late July by the nonprofit Forbidden Stories, Amnesty International's Security Lab, and 17 media outlets around the world.
It turns out they have a copy of a list of 50 phone numbers targeting customers of the Israeli hacking company NSO Group. They are trying to hack into these phones using the Pegasus spyware developed by NSO.
This time Pegasus targeted the reporters
The reason for the report's attention is that the NSO advertises that it only provides the government with tools to fight terrorism and criminal activity. However, ANSSI found that the list included many journalists, dissidents and politicians from around the world. There are at least 180 reporters.
An ANSSI investigation revealed that Pegasus spied on 3 journalists in France. Among them is a senior reporter for international television France 24. The other two journalists were Lenaigue Bredoux and Edwi Plenel from the French investigative website Mediapart.
Reporters were furious about cell phone surveillance. They also feared that it would affect the sources of the countries with which they were in contact. A senior reporter associated with France 24 suffered a Pegasus phone attack in May 2019, September 2020 and January 2021 respectively. The France 24 TV channel is ready to take legal action.
"We are stunned and angry that journalists can become the object of espionage. We will not take this lying down. There will be legal actions."
Not only journalists, but also politicians
The list includes not only journalists, but also French President Emmanuel Macron and 15 French officials before and after them. But ANSSI did not confirm whether the mobile phones of these officials were hacked.
The NSO continues to deny that the taboo stories and the list obtained by Amnesty International are Pegasus' targets. The NSO said Macron was never "targeted" by any of its clients.
As such, the company denies that he was selected for surveillance or controlled by Pegasus. However, the Israeli government has launched an investigation into the NSO's activities. In addition, he called an emergency meeting. They want to assess the possible impact of the Pegasus project on the country's security field.
PS France is not the only country suffering from the Pegasus project.
