Presidency Minister Félix Bolaos claimed Monday in a hastily scheduled press conference that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s cell phone was breached twice in May 2021.
Officials in Spain revealed Monday that the prime minister’s and defence minister’s cellphones were infected with Pegasus malware; which is only available to government agencies in an unlawful operation, last year.
Presidency Minister Félix Bolaos claimed Monday at a hastily scheduled press conference; that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s phone was hacked twice in May 2021; Defense Minister Margarita Robles’ phone was hacked once the following month.
According to him, the breaches resulted in the theft of a large amount of data; reports outlining the hacking have been sent to Spain’s National Court for further investigation.
“There is no doubt in our minds that this is an unapproved, illegal intervention,” Bolaos added. “It emanates from outside state entities, and it was not authorised by the courts.”
According to Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity group affiliated with the University of Toronto, Spain’s Socialist-led government is under pressure to explain why the cellphones of dozens of people connected to the separatist movement in northeastern Catalonia were infected with Pegasus between 2017 and 2020.
At least 65 persons, including elected officials, lawyers, activists; have been identified as having been targeted by software developed by two Israeli companies Candiru and NSO Group, the creators of Pegasus.
The software infiltrates phones and other devices invisibly in order to collect data and maybe spy on their owners.
