Report: NSO spyware found on 6 Palestinian activists’ phones

By FRANK BAJAK and JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Security researchers say spyware from the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists. Half are affiliated with groups that Israel’s defense minister controversially claimed last month were involved in terrorism. Monday’s revelation marks the first known instance of Palestinian activists being targeted by the military-grade Pegasus spyware. Its use against journalists, rights activists and political dissidents from Mexico to Saudi Arabia has been documented since 2015. A successful Pegasus infection surreptitiously gives intruders access to everything on a person’s phone. It’s not clear who placed the NSO spyware on the activists’ phones.