Amid fresh UK, Spain charges: Europe parliamentary panel on Pegasus to hold first meet today

The European Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry is set to hold its first meeting today into breaches of EU law associated with the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware, amid fresh allegations of Pegasus attacks on top politicians and journalists in Spain, and on a device in UK PM Boris Johnson’s office.

On Monday, the digital rights watchdog Citizen Lab said it had warned British officials that electronic devices connected to government networks, including some inside the prime minister's office and foreign ministry, appeared to be infected with the Israeli-made spy software that is made by the NSO Group.

Citizen Lab alleged that it believed the targeting connected to the prime minister's office was done by NSO clients in the United Arab Emirates while the British foreign ministry hacking came from other countries, including Cyprus, Jordan and India. The incident in the UK is just one of multiple Pegasus infiltrations that Citizen Lab has claimed to have detected.

The research lab also reported Monday that another Pegasus deployment had been spotted on networks operated by groups in Spain that were advocating independence in the Catalonia region. According to Citizen Lab, some 65 computers were infected with the spyware, and most were used by local government officials, academics and even European Union representatives who had advocated for autonomy in the region.

Amnesty International’s Security Lab had peer reviewed forensic evidence from a sample of individuals first identified in the Citizen Lab investigation, and found evidence of Pegasus targeting and infection in all cases in Spain.

Newslaundry had earlier reported that an expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the alleged use of the Pegasus spyware in India against journalists, activists and other civilians has sought the public’s inputs on 11 questions related to the issue until March 31.

The Supreme Court set up the committee in October 2021 after noting that there had been a lack of specific denial from the union government on whether they had used the Israeli spyware. The committee was set up in response to various petitions which had been filed with the court in relation to breach of privacy.

NSO states that it only sells to governments and that its tools are meant to be used to combat serious organised crime and terrorism.