NSO Group's Pegasus spyware used to spy on El Salvador journalists and activists
What you need to know
- Journalists and activists in El Salvador have been targeted by Pegasus spyware.
- El Salvador government says it too has been a target.
The infamous NSO Group's spyware app, Pegasus, has been found to have been used to hack into devices owned by journalists and activists in El Salvador, according to a new report. The discovery was made after two journalists reached out to Citizen Lab with concerns that their devices had been compromised.
Both journalists and activists critical of alleged government corruption appear to have been targeted, with an investigation confirming that devices had indeed been attacked according to a Reuters report.
President Nayib Bukele says that his country doesn't work with NSO Group, going on to also confirm that an investigation would be opened. It was also claimed that government officials were also targeted.
Pegasus has been used by various outfits to access text messages, call histories, and more on devices that they believe may be of interest. Those devices often belong to members of the press as well as anyone they believe to be a threat.
Apple recently filed a Lawsuit against NSO Group and reports suggest the outfit is considering closing the spyware operation as it burns through cash.
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Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.