Spain’s PM mobile phone infected by Pegasus spyware

Spanish authorities discovered “Pegasus” malware on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s and Defense Minister Margarita Robles’ phones, according to the government minister for the president, Felix Bolanos.

Bolanos stated during a press conference. In May 2021, Sanchez’s phone was infected, and at least one data breach happened.

He refused to identify who could have been eavesdropping on the prime minister or whether foreign forces or Spanish organisations were suspected.

“The interventions were illicit and external. External means carried out by non-official bodies and without state authorisation, “he went on to say that the infections had been reported to the Justice Ministry, and that the matter would be handled by the High Court.

The statement came as the leftist coalition government was under significant pressure to explain itself when Citizen Lab, a Canadian digital rights organisation, reported that more than 60 people related to the Catalan separatist movement had been targeted by Israel’s NSO Group’s “Pegasus” malware.

Following suspicions of surveillance on Catalan separatists, the minority administration’s primary ally in parliament, Catalonia’s leftist pro-independence party, ERC, said it would not back the government until Madrid took steps to rebuild trust.

Pegasus has been accused of being used by client governments to spy on human rights activists, journalists, and politicians, prompting the European Union’s data protection agency to urge a ban.

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