The use of the mysterious Israeli app to snoop on separatists' phones raises questions about the system.
Here are some of the responses:
What is Pegasus?
It is mobile phone spyware that is only sold to government agencies such as the military, police and intelligence services to investigate crimes such as organized crime and terrorism, according to its manufacturer, the Israeli firm NSO Group.
The application allows tapping into conversations, reading encrypted messages, altering the device's memory and remotely connecting the camera and microphone.
In this way, a monitored target becomes a kind of mobile antenna by capturing the ambient sound of its surroundings.
How many people have been tracked with Pegasus in Spain?
According to the Canadian cybersecurity organization Citizen Lab, considered one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a total of 63 targets were attacked (attempted attacks) or infected with this program in our country.
The list includes leaders and former leaders of ERC, CUP and Junts and of the civic entities Assemblea Nacional de Catalunya (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural.
Who is behind the infections?
It is an unknown.
The National Police, the Civil Guard and the Government indicated to EL PAÍS in 2020 that they did not have the application.
The CNI, however, was more evasive in assuring that it "always acts in full compliance with the legal system and with absolute respect for current legislation."
Citizen Lab establishes in its latest report released this Monday a link between the massive espionage to the Catalan independence movement and Spain.
It is based on the political interest of those monitored -which include procés protagonists such as former presidents Carles Puigdemont or Quim Torra- and the hot political moments in which the attacks were recorded, such as the investigation of the 1-0 referendum in 2017 or the trial in the Supreme of 2019.
Can the CNI tap a phone?
Yes. The 2002 Law on Prior Judicial Control, which regulates the activity of the secret service, supports this possibility.
To do this, the director of the agency, Paz Esteban, must request a permit from an assigned Supreme Court magistrate.
The judge has 72 hours to answer.
And, if she agrees, she must renew the authorization every three months.
In addition, the secret service has the technology.
The CNI was a client of the NSO Group in 2020 and previously used a similar app from the Italian firm Hacking Team.
What interest does the secret service have in the procés?
Much.
Since 2015, the agency has been investigating independence movements after creating the so-called Unit for the Defense of Constitutional Principles.
The CNI also participated in 2018 in the arrest in Germany of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and informed the Government of Mariano Rajoy about the so-called independence laws.
How does Pegasus sneak into phones?
The intrusion is not easy, but there are mainly two techniques: sending infected messages that, when punctured, redirect to a website with
malware
and taking advantage of security flaws in applications such as WhatsApp.
An error in this messaging system allowed Pegasus to sneak into 1,400 phones in 2019. The former president of Parliament Roger Torrent and the former deputy Ernest Maragall -both from ERC- were spied on through WhatsApp.
How much?
The system has a millionaire cost.
Although the industry is very opaque (it refers to security for its secrecy), a journalistic investigation revealed that the Executive of former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) paid a total of 27 million euros in 2014 for a package of 500 attempts of infection with Pegasus.
The sale of the system abroad requires an authorization from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which does not inform the Parliament of this country about the States to which it is prohibited to sell weapons or security technology.
Has the NSO Group system been involved in controversy?
Yes. For five years, controversies have surrounded the Israeli firm, which has been involved in scandals.
Its clients use the program for a purpose beyond its intended purpose, such as spying on journalists, political dissidents and opponents.
One of the most notorious cases was that of Jamal Khashoggi, an informer assassinated in 2018 at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
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