Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

Human Rights Watch says staffer was targeted with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware

Human Rights Watch says staffer was targeted with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware

The Israeli NSO Group’s technology has been used by governments to target political opponents, activists and journalists.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says one of its senior staff members was targeted five times last year with Pegasus, a spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group.

The software was used against Lama Fakih, director of the New York-based group’s Beirut office who also oversees its crisis response in countries including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Israel, Myanmar, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria and the United States, HRW said on Wednesday.

Fakih’s phone was breached five times between April and August of 2021, but the organisation said it did not know who targeted her.

The NSO Group, which does not disclose its client list, has been mired in controversy in recent years following investigations by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, along with several rights groups and media outlets, that found that the technology has been used by governments across the world to access the smartphones of political opponents, activists and journalists.


Recounting being notified by Apple in November 2021 that she had been a victim of a “state-sponsored” attack on her iPhone, Fakih said she “felt dread and disbelief”.

“You have a million thoughts going through your head. Why would I be targeted in this way and how? What government did this?” Fakih said in a Q&A published by HRW on Wednesday.

“What does this mean for my security and for the security of everyone whose data may have been compromised as a result of the attack?”

She said HRW later determined that her phone had been hacked using Pegasus. The conclusion was peer-reviewed and confirmed by Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

“After all this, we decided to make this state-sponsored attack public, in order to raise awareness of this risk to civil society partners and contacts more broadly,” Fakih said. “Speaking out about these attacks is critical to stopping the unchecked use of surveillance technology.”


The NSO Group’s software has proven particularly difficult to protect against because it uses so-called “zero-click” technology, meaning a user does not have to click on a malicious link for hackers to access their device.

Facebook and Apple have both filed lawsuits against the Israeli company over hacks against their products. The US, meanwhile, has blacklisted the company, saying its tools have been used by repressive governments, and barred it from using US-developed technology.

The company maintains it has safeguards in place to ensure its products are only used to target suspected criminals and “terrorists”.


In a January 24 letter made public by HRW, NSO Group said it was “not aware of any active customer” using the technology against a staff member of the rights watchdog.

The company said it was conducting an initial assessment to determine if an investigation would be launched, noting that the targeting of a rights group staffer would be a “serious misuse” of its technology if the individual was not suspected of committing a crime.

The firm has also expressed support for an “international regulatory structure” to constrain the use of spyware technology, but has shrugged off calls to suspend the use of Pegasus until one is created.

For her part, Fakih said “it is no accident that governments are using spyware to target activists and journalists, the very people who uncover their abusive practices”.

“They seem to believe that by doing so, they can consolidate power, muzzle dissent, and protect their manipulation of facts,” she said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×