Security News > 2022 > May > Spanish PM, defense minister latest Pegasus spyware victims

Spain's prime minister and defense minister are the latest elected officials to detect Pegasus spyware on their mobile phones, according to multiple media reports quoting Spanish authorities.

During a press conference on Monday, Félix Bolaños, the minister for the presidency, told reporters that cellphones of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and defense minister Margarita Robles were both infected by NSO's notorious surveillance software last year.

The allegations come just weeks after researchers reported finding Pegasus spyware on dozens of Catalan politicians and members of civil society groups.

In mid-April, Citizen Labs identified at least 63 individuals targeted with Pegasus, four others targeted with Windows surveillance software from Candiru, another Israel-based spyware maker that has also been sanctioned in the US. The victims included members of the European Parliament, legislators, jurists, members of civil society, and every Catalan president since 2010.

When reports surfaced about Pegasus spyware targeting Catalonians, attention turned to Madrid, which has not confirmed or denied that its national intelligence agency had a contract with NSO to use the surveillance software.

At the time when Citizen Labs reported the surveillance operation targeting Catalan politicians and activists, it also said it found Pegasus spyware targeting the UK Prime Minister's Office and what was formerly called the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/05/02/spain_pegasus_malware/