Politician who investigated spyware abuses had his phone hacked with Pegasus spyware


Security researchers have confirmed that a European politician had his phone hacked with the Pegasus spyware while serving on an investigatory committee probing abuses of the notorious surveillance tool. This has reignited fresh controversy over governments abusing spyware to collect information about their critics.

The researchers at the University of Toronto’s digital rights unit The Citizen Lab say the confirmed phone hacking of Greek journalist and former politician Stelios Kouloglou during 2022 and 2023 marks the first time that a member of the European Parliament’s PEGA committee, tasked with investigating phone spyware attacks by European governments, has been publicly identified as a victim of spyware.

Read more…
Source:  TechCrunch News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Italian political consultant says he was targeted with Paragon spyware

    November 6, 2025

    Francesco Nicodemo, a consultant who works with left-wing politicians in Italy, has gone public as the latest person targeted with Paragon spyware in the country. On Thursday, Nicodemo said in a Facebook post that for 10 months, he preferred not to publicize his case because he “did not want to be used for political propaganda,” ...

  • CEO of spyware maker Memento Labs confirms one of its government customers was caught using its malware

    October 28, 2025

    On Monday, researchers at cybersecurity giant Kaspersky published a report identifying a new spyware called Dante that they say targeted Windows victims in Russia and neighboring Belarus. The researchers said the Dante spyware is made by Memento Labs, a Milan-based surveillance tech maker that was formed in 2019 after a new owner acquired and took over ...

  • Mem3nt0 mori – The Hacking Team is back!

    October 27, 2025

    n March 2025, Kaspersky detected a wave of infections that occurred when users clicked on personalized phishing links sent via email. No further action was required to initiate the infection; simply visiting the malicious website using Google Chrome or another Chromium-based web browser was enough. The malicious links were personalized and extremely short-lived to avoid detection. ...

  • Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors

    October 10, 2025

    Israeli spyware maker NSO Group has confirmed to TechCrunch that a U.S. investment group has acquired the company. NSO spokesperson Oded Hershowitz told TechCrunch on Friday that “an American investment group has invested tens of millions of dollars in the company and has acquired controlling ownership. ” Confirmation of the deal came soon after Israeli tech ...

  • ClayRat Android malware spoofs WhatsApp, TikTok and more

    October 10, 2025

    A new Android malware variant is posing as popular apps, stealing sensitive files and propagating further. Experts from Zimperium revealed ClayRat, targeting primarily Russian users by spoofing popular Android apps such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Google Photos, or YouTube, distributed mostly through Telegram channels and standalone phishing sites. Through typosquatting, the phishing sites trick victims into thinking ...

  • Threat landscape for industrial automation systems in Q2 2025

    September 19, 2025

    In Q2 2025, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased by 1.4 pp from the previous quarter to 20.5%. Compared to Q2 2024, the rate decreased by 3.0 pp. Regionally, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked ranged from 11.2% in Northern Europe to 27.8% in Africa. ...