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"Pegasus" spy software: Macron also targeted by the cyber weapon

2021-07-20T17:31:54.796Z


According to reports, the targets of the espionage software »Pegasus« apparently also included top European politicians. The order for this may have come from Morocco.


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French President Macron: Cell phone number listed

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POOL / REUTERS

Hundreds of journalists and human rights activists around the world have apparently been victims of extensive illegal state wiretapping.

This is the result of research by an international journalist consortium led by the French research organization Forbidden Stories and the human rights organization Amnesty International.

But that's not all: in the list of telephone data that journalists could see, the reports also include the numbers of several high-ranking politicians in Europe.

Apparently among them: French President Emmanuel Macron.

One of at least two cell phone numbers that he should use is therefore listed in the data from 2019.

According to the French newspaper »Le Monde«, Macron has been using this number since 2017 and has also been available for the past few days.

At this point in time, however, it is still unclear whether Macron's mobile phone was ever actively monitored.

The fact that his number was on the list so far only proves that he was one of the potential targets.

According to »Le Monde«, the presence of this number on the list should be seen as a hostile act by the Moroccan government against a European head of state.

»Pegasus« is currently regarded by experts as the most powerful surveillance program for cell phones and is classified as a cyber weapon.

It can spy on infiltrated smartphones in real time and bypass the encryption of chat programs such as WhatsApp or Signal.

An international research group is behind the »Pegasus Project«.

As part of the project, the group has evaluated a data leak with more than 50,000 telephone numbers that are said to have been selected as a target for possible surveillance by customers of the Israeli company NSO Group since 2016.

How many of the connections were actually hacked or monitored was initially unclear.

Other high-ranking politicians are also apparently affected

According to a report by NDR and WDR, which, along with the »Süddeutsche Zeitung« and »Zeit«, are among the German media involved in the project, the number of Macron's former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla is also on the list.

According to this, the then Prime Minister Édouard Philippe and several ministers in France should also be spied on in 2019, including the still-incumbent cabinet members Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Economics Minister Bruno Le Maire and Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.

"If these events are to be confirmed, then of course they are very serious," said the Elysée Palace in the meantime.

Everything will now be done to clear up the process.

According to the reports, numbers of other high-ranking politicians in Europe were also identified: those of the former Belgian Prime Minister and current President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and his father Louis Michel, who was a member of the European Parliament until 2019 and chaired the joint parliamentary group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the EU.

According to WDR and NDR, it was not possible to verify in individual cases whether all the people were actually spied on.

It would be necessary to check the respective devices for traces of the software.

However, the then French Environment Minister François de Rugy agreed to an analysis of his telephone.

IT security experts from the human rights organization Amnesty International were able to prove that the "Pegasus" software was actually active on his mobile phone in July 2019.

Pegasus manufacturer rejects reports

The manufacturer of the "Pegasus" software, NSO, does not comment on specific customers.

According to NDR and WDR, she informed the media involved on request that the reports were "full of false assumptions and unconfirmed theories."

In a recent statement, an NSO spokesman wrote that the telephone list was falsified information.

It is not a list of goals or possible goals for NSO customers.

The company also has no access to its customers' data.

But he could assure that Emmanuel Macron was never a target or a possible target of NSO customers.

Moroccan authorities are suspected

According to NDR and WDR, Moroccan authorities may be behind the alleged spying actions in France and on the Belgians Charles and Louis Michel.

The research of the »Pegasus Project« showed that the traces lead to the origin of the surveillance attempts in the North African country.

It is unclear what the reason for the possible espionage could be.

The Moroccan government did not respond to any aspect of a request.

The Paris embassy in Morocco only reported in general that the allegations were "unfounded allegations" that had already been "categorically rejected" in the past.

In Morocco there is now speculation about palace intrigues, according to Die Zeit.

Because among the numbers that appear to have been entered in the country, there are also connections of members of the royal family, the cell phone numbers of the closest friends of King Mohammed VI.

- and even its own number.

Now there is wild speculation about palace intrigues.

According to Le Monde, the telephone numbers of 14 heads of state and government who could have been spied on were found on the list, including Lebanon's ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani and Paksitan's Prime Minister Imran Khan.

asa / bsa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-07-20

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