Cyprus is named among four countries as the originator of the infamous Pegasus surveillance software, which monitored the mobile phones of Downing Street and Foreign Office officials.
The revelation comes from Citizel Labs, a renowned digital security lab at the University of Toronto, Canada, which has named the United Arab Emirates as its main suspect. “We confirm that in 2020 and 2021 we observed and informed the UK Government of multiple suspected cases of Pegasus spyware infection within the country’s official networks,” the lab said. “Suspicious infections involving the Foreign Office have been linked to Pegasus pilots whom we associate with the United Arab Emirates, India, Cyprus and Jordan. “the United Arab Emirates,” Citizen Labs said in a statement.
Investigators have not been able to determine which government official Boris Johnson hacked.
Pegasus, a product of the Israeli software company NSO, against which numerous lawsuits are pending, allows governments to spy on Android and iPhone mobile phones. The software infects the device without any wrong action by the user and gives access to all the data, the camera and the microphone. Downing Street’s network device infection was discovered by an investigative journalist working for the New Yorker magazine.
The Cypriot “Phileleftheros” contacted a government official, taking into account these reports, denying that our country has any involvement with telephone interceptions in Britain. The same source reminded that similar reports had been heard in the past and it was found that they were not correct. He also added that our country maintains excellent relations with the British in all areas and had no reason to take such action. The same official stressed that Cyprus is at the disposal of the Canadian laboratory if it wishes to send its findings to the Cypriot authorities for investigation by the Police. However, so far, the Cybercrime Prosecution Office does not have anything in its hands to be examined, nor have the British officially or otherwise contacted the authorities here asking for information or explanations.
It is noted that the Pegasus software has nothing to do with that of the Israeli Tal Dillian, whose name occupied Cyprus last year with his black van.
However, the revelations of Citizen Labs were rushed by the NSO Group, which owns the software, to refute the researchers, accusing the researchers of “political motives”. “The information presented about these allegations is again false and could not be linked to NSO products for technical or contractual reasons,” a company spokesman said. Pegasus has become widely known for its journalistic research that has revealed that countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Poland have abused the system to spy on political opponents, journalists and activists.
Source: philenews.com
Source: Capital
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
