10 Downing Street network fell victim to Pegasus: The victim was spyware at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister. Also on the list of victims is the country’s foreign office computer system.
The Citizen Lab, a research firm at the University of Toronto, says it warned British officials about Pegasus spyware in 2020 and 2021 and found that people in the United Arab Emirates were involved in the infection at 10 Downing Street.
NSO Group, the Israeli manufacturer of spyware, has already admitted to selling Pegasus spyware to government agencies around the world. This spyware is capable of stealing personal and confidential information from the target person’s phone.
However, the NSO Group has denied allegations that top British government officials used their software to spyware on their phones.
Citizen Lab monitors cyber security and electronic surveillance processes. The agency said it had warned the British government in 2020 and 2021 that Pegasus spyware had spread to 10 Downing Street and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office network.
The spyware allows users to take full control of the user’s phone through Pegasus and steal data as well as monitor the victim’s activities.
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The NSO Group has always spoken in favor of spyware. The Israeli agency claims that it sold the spyware only to the government of the “selected country” and to law enforcement and intelligence agencies as a weapon against criminals and extremists.
Citizen Labs says it has been able to identify at least 65 people infected with the Pegasus virus. Among them are members of the European Parliament, several rulers of Catalonia in Spain, lawmakers from different countries, members of the jury board of courts, and members of civil society.
According to a report in The New Yorker, a number of devices, including the official phone of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, were found in Pegasus. However, Pegasus has the ability to delete all its data without leaving any mark. As a result, cyber security researchers have not been able to confirm whether the devices were spyware or not, but whether any data was stolen.
Citizen Labs says it believes operators from the United Arab Emirates, India, Cyprus, and Jordan were involved in the Pegasus infection at the UK State Department.
Citizen Labs speculates that the spyware may have been spread by UK government employees working abroad and using foreign SIM cards. In the same process, Pegasus infected the devices of U.S. officials in charge of Uganda. However, the NSO group has been claiming that their software does not have the “ability” to attack US phone numbers.
An investigation by an international coalition of journalists revealed last year that between 2017 and 2019, the NSO group had at least 400 UK phone numbers on its list of victims. The United Arab Emirates was the main source of surveillance on most of the phone numbers.
The NSO group cut ties with the United Arab Emirates in 2021 following reports that the ruler of Dubai had used Pegasus to hack his ex-wife’s phone. The ruler of Dubai has denied allegations of using Pegasus.
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The BBC reports that rights activists, journalists, and politicians are among the global victims of Pegasus spyware. However, NSO Group has been claiming that the presentation of data is wrong.
The NSO group was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce after the Pegasus scandal was leaked last year.
A spokesman for the UK government declined to comment on the latest Yorker report to the BBC.
A spokesman for the NSO group said: “The information presented about these allegations is again false and has no technical or contractual relationship with the NSO products.”
“Several campaign organizations, such as Citizen Lab and Amnesty, are targeting the NSO group for political purposes. They are making false and unproven reports with vague and incomplete information. ”
The BBC has contacted the United Arab Emirates embassy in the United Kingdom. However, the news agency did not receive an immediate response.
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