Spanish Prime Minister and Defense Minister latest Pegasus Spyware Victims

upnorth · May 2, 2022

Spain's prime minister and defense minister are the latest elected officials to detect Pegasus spyware on their mobile phones, according to multiple media reports quoting Spanish authorities.

During a press conference on Monday, Félix Bolaños, the minister for the presidency, told reporters that cellphones of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and defense minister Margarita Robles were both infected by NSO's notorious surveillance software last year. Sánchez's device was breached twice, and Robles' phone was breached once. Bolaños noted that a Spanish judge did not authorize these breaches, meaning "external" groups initiated the espionage. "We have no doubt that this is an illicit, unauthorized intervention," Bolaños said at the press conference. "It comes from outside state organisms and it didn't have judicial authorization."