Meduza publisher Timchenko’s phone was hacked using Pegasus – Kommersant
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Non-profit organization Access Nowdedicated to protecting citizens’ rights in the digital space, and a Canadian research laboratory The Citizen Labspecializing in information security and human rights, identified the Pegasus spyware program, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, in the phone of Meduza publisher (recognized as a foreign agent and unwanted organization) Galina Timchenko.
According to Access Now, Ms. Timchenko received a notification from Apple on June 22, 2023 that her iPhone might have been attacked by “pro-government hackers.” The next day, the publication’s technical service contacted Access Now with a request to check the phone for spyware. It is reported that Access Now specialists, together with employees of The Citizen Lab, checked Ms. Timchenko’s iPhone and found out that it was infected with the Pegasus spyware on February 10, 2023. The virus could have been on the phone for several days or weeks after that, the organization noted.
“I don’t know what the people behind the Pegasus hack might have found on my device. (More likely.- ”b”) Nothing. I have long established very strict boundaries for my digital and ordinary life,” Access Now quotes Ms. Timchenko as saying.
Pegasus is spyware that can be installed discreetly on a mobile phone running some versions of the Apple and iOS mobile operating systems, for example, through the WhatsApp messenger, iMessage or SMS. Pegasus allows you to access your phone’s messages, photos, email, contacts and GPS data. In addition, on an infected device, you can quietly turn on the camera, microphone, and record a telephone conversation.
Access Now reports that on the day of infection, Ms. Timchenko was in Berlin. The next day, February 11, she was present in the capital of Germany at a meeting with representatives of the media who had emigrated from Russia. The event was organized by the Editorial Board project; at the meeting, journalists discussed the legal risks associated with obtaining the status of a foreign agent and an undesirable organization in the Russian Federation, Access Now reports.
According to Access Now, the developer of Pegasus, the Israeli NSO Group, claims that it sells the program only to government agencies. EU Committee of Inquiry into the Use of Pegasus for Surveillance assertsthat in the European Union departments in 14 countries have access to the program.
According to Access Now, the Latvian government agency, which houses the editorial office of Meduza, has access to Pegasus. However, according to The Citizen Lab, Latvia has not been reported to be using spyware outside the country.
In Germany, where Timchenko attended a meeting of journalists, the Pegasus customer is the police, not the intelligence services, the research laboratory claims.
Two departments actively use Pegasus outside their countries – the General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (AIVD) and an unnamed government agency of Estonia, notes The Citizen Lab.
Access Now also names Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as Pegasus’s alleged clients and claims that the intelligence services of these countries could have infected Ms. Timchenko’s phone at the request of Russia. However, The Citizen Lab emphasizes that there is no evidence of this, and Azerbaijan did not have access to Pegasus at all during the specified period. In addition, according to the laboratory, there is no evidence or indication that the Israeli spy program is at the disposal of the Russian intelligence services. In 2021 NSO statedthat Russia tried to buy Pegasus, but was refused.
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