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An investigation by the Canadian research institute Citizen Lab and several other organizations dealing with human rights and cyber security revealed on Wednesday that at least 22 journalists from an independent newspaper in El Salvador highly critical of the government had been spied on with the Pegasus program. The newspaper is called El Faro and is considered one of the most massive operations carried out through the Pegasus program.
The investigation refers to a period of time from July 2020 to November 2021. El Faro journalists are just some of the 35 people eavesdropped on, including some journalists from other media and civil society activists.
All the intercepted persons, it is said in the investigation, were involved in various ways in documenting and denouncing the illegal activities of the new and authoritarian President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. El Faro newspaper in particular is known for several investigations into the activities of the Bukele administration, including collaborating with criminal gangs, to increase its power over the territory.
According to the results of the investigation, the smartphone of Oscar Martinez, an investigative journalist from El Faro, was hacked 42 times.
While the data learned from the Citizen Lab investigation show that the attempts to eavesdrop on them came at the direct command of the Bukele government.
The NSO company was founded in 2010 and has long been suspected of offering its eavesdropping systems to governments of various countries, to spy on journalists, human rights activists, diplomats and various business leaders.
NSO’s activities have long been at the center of several media investigations.
Allegations that Israeli technology company Pegasus was used to spy on 50,000 phones – belonging to heads of state, journalists, human rights activists, political opponents and more – could be a high-profile accusation against firm, but are not the first.
Pegasus, which infects spyware phones in a variety of ways, is an aid to digital authorities who want to track down anyone deemed critical of their rule. The group has also been the subject of numerous lawsuits and legal complaints.
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that Pegasus was used to spy on French journalists by Moroccan intelligence, after Forbidden Stories led an investigation and found that states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco were using the technology to spy. citizens and dissidents, including Madawi al-Rasheed and Azzam Tamimi.
The family, friends and close contacts of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi were among thousands of people surveyed.
The NSO has consistently sought to remove responsibility for the way states use their technology to spy on journalists and human rights defenders. This company claims to follow all Israeli regulations that improve the export of its products and sells the program only to Israeli allies, never Israel’s enemies.
The NSO also claims that the program was sold only to governments and never to unauthorized individuals or users, and that Pegasus is intended solely to combat crime and terrorism.
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