European Lawmaker on Spyware Probe Targeted by Pegasus Hack

A member of the European Parliament who sits on a committee tasked with scrutinising surveillance tools discovered that his mobile device had been infiltrated by Pegasus, the sophisticated spyware developed by Israel’s NSO Group. The lawmaker, who has been actively pushing for stricter oversight of commercial surveillance technologies, learned that his phone’s messages, call logs and location data were accessed without his consent.

According to investigative sources, the intrusion was carried out by a government that is officially listed as a client of NSO Group. The state allegedly used Pegasus’s remote‑access capabilities to extract the politician’s communications while he was conducting a parliamentary inquiry into the very same technology. The timing of the attack suggests a retaliatory motive, as the committee’s work could potentially limit the export and use of such tools.

The revelation sparked an immediate response in Brussels. The EU’s cyber‑security committee convened an emergency meeting to examine how a nation‑state could obtain and deploy Pegasus against a sitting member of parliament, what legal loopholes enable such actions, and what safeguards can be introduced to prevent future violations. Lawmakers also called for renewed scrutiny of NSO Group’s licensing model and for greater transparency about which governments are granted access to its software.

In a press statement, the affected politician warned that the breach undermines not only personal privacy but also the integrity of democratic oversight. “When a watchdog is itself surveilled, the whole system loses credibility,” he said. Human‑rights organisations echoed the concern, noting that Pegasus remains in active use by dozens of countries despite ongoing allegations of abuse.

Cyber‑security experts point out that the market for offensive surveillance tools is largely unregulated, leaving a gray area where corporate profit and state power intersect. The episode therefore serves as a litmus test for the EU’s ability to enforce stricter controls on the export and deployment of intrusive technologies, and it highlights the urgent need for international norms governing digital espionage.

Source: TechCrunch

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