It is the first time a developer of spyware has been held responsible for exploiting the weaknesses in smartphone platforms.
NSO Group says the tech is only meant to be for use against serious criminals and terrorists. But there are accusations the tech has been used by some countries to target anyone they deem a national security threat.
Pegasus became a scandal in 2021 when a list of 50,000 phone numbers of suspected victims of hacking was leaked to major media outlets.
From this list, global media identified the phone numbers of politicians and heads of state, business executives, activists, and several Arab royal family members, as well as more than 180 journalists.
It is suspected that Pegasus spyware infected devices belonging to Downing Street and Foreign Office officials, according to Canadian investigative group The Citizen Lab.
Other prominent figures believed to have been hacked include French President Emmanuel Macron, and relations of Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia’s government who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
