Security News > 2022 > April > E.U. Officials Reportedly Targeted with Israeli Pegasus Spyware

Senior officials in the European Union were allegedly targeted with NSO Group's infamous Pegasus surveillance tool, according to a new report from Reuters.

NSO Group said in a statement shared with Reuters that it was not responsible for the hacking attempts, adding that the targeting "Could not have happened with NSO's tools."

The targeting is said to have come to light after Apple notified the victims of state-sponsored attacks last November as part of its efforts to stop the Israeli surveillance firm from targeting its customers.

Apple called NSO Group as "Notorious hackers - amoral 21st century mercenaries who have created highly sophisticated cyber-surveillance machinery that invites routine and flagrant abuse."

The widespread abuse of Pegasus to systematically spy on civil society in recent years has led the U.S. government to add NSO Group to its trade blocklist, in turn prompting Israel to restrict the number of countries to which local security firms can sell offensive hacking and surveillance tools.

Despite attempts to regulate the use of spyware, a forensic investigation released by Front Line Defenders last week found that the iPhone belonging to Suhair Jaradat, a Jordanian journalist and human rights defender, was hacked with Pegasus via a malicious WhatsApp message in December 2021, weeks after Apple initiated legal proceedings.

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https://thehackernews.com/2022/04/eu-officials-reportedly-targeted-with.html