EU lawmaker investigating surveillance hacked by Israeli spyware, report says

A former Greek Member of the European Parliament, Stelios Kouloglou, was reportedly targeted with Pegasus spyware in 2022 and 2023. This occurred while he was serving on a European Parliament committee (PEGA Committee) investigating the misuse of such surveillance tools within the EU. Citizen Lab, a Canadian research group, conducted a forensic analysis of Kouloglou's phone and found evidence of at least three infections. The spyware, developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group, allows for extensive remote access to a target's device. While Citizen Lab did not attribute the hacking to a specific government, the incident raises concerns about the integrity of democratic oversight and parliamentary proceedings.

Researchers at Citizen Lab have found that a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Stelios Kouloglou, was repeatedly targeted with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. These attacks occurred between October 2022 and March 2023, coinciding with Kouloglou's involvement in a special European parliamentary committee investigating spyware abuses. While Citizen Lab could not identify the specific government operator, the hacking bore similarities to a previous campaign against Russian and Belarusian journalists in Europe. The attacks occurred during critical periods of the committee's deliberations and report drafting. This marks the first known instance of a member of this specific committee being targeted with spyware, highlighting concerns about the effectiveness of the committee's recommendations.