Boris Johnson was told that his Downing Street office had targeted “a multitude” of suspected infections with Pegasus, an advanced hacking software made by the Israeli NSO group that could turn the phone into a remote eavesdropping device. Monday.
A report released by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto on Monday said it was believed to be the victim of a spyware attack in 2020 and 2021, with the United Arab Emirates as the alleged orchestrator.
Pegasus is hacking software – or spyware – developed, marketed and licensed to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. It has the ability to infect phones running iOS or Android operating systems.
Citizen Lab, considered one of the world’s leading experts in detecting digital attacks, said it had taken the rare step of notifying Whitehall of the attack because it “believes our actions can reduce the damage.”
In a statement, Citizen Lab said: “We confirm that in 2020 and 2021 we monitored and notified the UK Government of a number of suspected cases of Pegasus spyware infections on UK official networks. These include: the Prime Minister’s Office (10 Downing Street) [and] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British Community … The alleged infection in the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is related to a Pegasus operator, which we associate with the UAE.
Boris Johnson in front of 10 Downing Street Photo: Tayfun Salcı / Zuma Press Wire / Rex / Shutterstock
However, researchers have not been able to identify the specific individuals in №10 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are suspected of being hacked.
The Biden administration took the final step of blacklisting the NSO last November, saying there was evidence that the company had sold spyware to monitor foreign governments that used it for “transnational repression.” An NSO spokesman said at the time that she was “concerned about the decision”.
The revelations will raise significant questions about a possible breakthrough in national security at the highest levels of the British government.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the UAE government have been contacted for comment.
An NSO spokesman said: “The NSO continues to be targeted by a number of politically motivated advocacy organizations such as Citizen Lab and Amnesty to produce inaccurate and unsubstantiated reports based on vague and incomplete information.
“We have repeatedly cooperated with government investigations, where credible allegations are worthwhile. However, the information raised about these allegations is again incorrect and cannot be linked to NSO products for technological and contractual reasons.
More to come…
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