by Chris Black
Israel’s Pegasus spyware found to have infected five French ministers’ phones.The ministers were potentially targeted in 2019 by the software created by cyber espionage firm NSO Group, investigative journal Mediapart reported Thursday.
Mediapart cited a “confidential document” from August, detailing the results of an examination conducted the month before on cabinet members’ cellphones. Five, according to the report, had “suspicious marks,” suggesting at least an attempt to infect the devices with Pegasus software.
The ministers in question are from the departments of: National Education, Territorial Cohesion, Agriculture, Housing and Overseas. None were in charge of the same ministerial portfolio at the time of their targeting by Pegasus, but all were already members of the government, Mediapart added.
#PegasusSnoopgate
The phones of the #French ministers for education, territorial cohesion, agriculture, housing & overseas show traces of #Pegasus, a military-grade spyware created by the Israel-based #NSOgroup.t.co/Q1uMPn8lcX#Surveillance #SupremeCourt #BREAKING— sflc.in (@SFLCin) September 24, 2021