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Article

1 Apr 2024

Author:
Shaun Walker, The Guardian

Poland: Government will inform previously targeted Pegasus spyware victims

"Poland launches inquiry into previous government’s spyware use" 1 April 2024

Poland has launched an investigation into its previous government’s use of the controversial spyware Pegasus, with a parliamentary inquiry under way and the possibility of criminal charges being brought against former government officials in the future.

Adam Bodnar, Poland’s new justice minister, told the Guardian that in coming months the government would notify people who were targeted with Pegasus. Under Polish law, they would then have the possibility of seeking financial compensation, and becoming party to potential criminal proceedings...

...Pegasus is a powerful tool designed by Israeli company NSO Group. It is capable of taking control of a target’s mobile phone, accessing data from secure messaging apps and even turning the device into a recorder.

In 2021, a consortium of media outlets, including the Guardian, accessed a data leak that showed thousands of phone numbers that were targeted by Pegasus in various countries. It also revealed that the spyware tool had been used against media and civil society in numerous places, including in Hungary under the prime minister, Viktor Orbán.

Later that year, a separate investigation by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab revealed the use of Pegasus in Poland, including against targets linked to the Civic Platform party, then in opposition and now the main party in the governing coalition after parliamentary elections last October...

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