Dozens of journalists and human rights activists were spied on using the Pegasus spy software.
The Federal Criminal Police Office is also said to have secretly bought the software.
Berlin - In July, a worldwide network of journalists uncovered the misuse of the Pegasus software for espionage by journalists, opposition activists, business people and human rights activists. Hundreds of activists around the world have apparently been victims of wiretapping. Secret services and police authorities in several countries are said to have used the Pegasus software offered by NSO to tap into the mobile phones of those affected. According to media reports, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) was also in possession of the spy software.
According to a media report, the Federal Criminal Police Office bought the controversial Israeli spy software Pegasus from the NSO Group in order to monitor suspects.
As
Zeit Online reported
on Tuesday (September 7th), citing joint research with
Süddeutsche Zeitung
and North and West German Broadcasting, the BKA procured the software at the end of 2019 despite concerns from lawyers in the authority and the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Pegasus scandal: Federal Criminal Police Office in possession of the espionage software
According to
Zeit Online research
, the BKA negotiated with NSO for the first time in 2017 about the use of the controversial cyber weapon. Lawyers from the BKA and the Ministry of the Interior are said to have expressed concerns about the software at the time. With Pegasus all data can be read out from cell phones attacked with it. The software is also able to switch on the device's camera and microphone unnoticed.
German law only allows such monitoring within narrow limits, which is why, according to the report, a Pegasus version that does not contain all functions is said to have been purchased. However, it is unclear how it was ensured that the other functions remain switched off. It is also unclear how often and against whom Pegasus was used. According to the report, the BKA has been using the software since the end of 2019. The Federal Government wants to inform the Interior Committee of the German Bundestag about this on Tuesday (September 7th).
(AFP)