The digital rights advocacy group Access Now disclosed on Thursday that the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, developed by Israel’s NSO Group, was deployed to hack the cellphones of a minimum of 30 individuals in Jordan. Among the targeted victims were journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, and political figures.
According to Access Now’s investigation, the espionage operations were carried out with the assistance of Pegasus between September 2023 and 2019; the NSO Group was revealed as the spyware’s source. Remarkably, the analysis does not accuse the Jordanian government of being the ones behind the hacking.
Among the prominent figures subjected to the cyber intrusion was Adam Coogle, deputy director for the region at Human Rights Watch. In an interview, Coogle expressed the challenge of comprehending who, aside from the government, would have an interest in hacking the specified individuals.
The report by Access Now also pointed to a 2022 disclosure by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which identified two spyware operators possibly linked to the Jordanian government. Axios had previously reported on negotiations between Jordan and the NSO Group a year earlier.
Marwa Fatafta, Access Now’s Middle East and North Africa director, asserted that the reported 30 out of 35 targeted individuals were successfully hacked, hinting at a potentially higher number of victims.
Pegasus Spyware Scandal Unveils Global Concerns
Citizen Lab corroborated most infections, with 21 victims opting for anonymity due to fear of reprisals. Other identifications were made by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International’s Security Lab, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
NSO Group maintains it only sells to vetted intelligence and law enforcement agencies, exclusively for countering terrorism and serious criminal activities. However, cybersecurity researchers have documented instances of politically motivated abuse of the spyware across 45 countries.
Despite NSO Group’s claims, the US government blacklisted the company in November 2021. Apple Inc. had previously sued NSO Group, denouncing its employees as “amoral 21st-century mercenaries.”
Hiba Zayadin, Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher for Jordan and Syria, and Hala Ahed, a prominent Jordanian human rights lawyer, were also among those targeted by Pegasus.
The revelation underscores concerns over the indiscriminate use of Pegasus, prompting scrutiny into NSO Group’s practices and reigniting debates on the ethical implications of advanced cyber-surveillance technology.
Human Rights Watch, in a statement, expressed dissatisfaction with NSO Group’s response to inquiries, raising further questions about the accountability and transparency of entities involved in the development and distribution of such powerful surveillance tools.