At at least 65 individuals were targeted or their devices infected with 'mercenary spyware,' Citizen Lab saysPere Aragones, Catalonia's regional president, gives a news conference at Palau de la Generalitat on Sept. 24, 2021. Citizen Lab said his phone was among those previously infected with spyware while he served as a former president's deputy from 2018 to 2020.
Citizen Lab said its investigations into the use in Spain of Pegasus and spyware developed by Candiru — another Israeli firm founded by former NSO employees — started in late 2019 after a handful of cases targeting high-profile Catalan pro-independence individuals were revealed. Amnesty International said its technical experts had independently verified the attacks.
"The government of Spain always acts according to the law," said the spokesperson, who wasn't authorized to be named in the media.Pegasus infiltrates phones to vacuum up personal and location data and also surreptitiously controls the smartphone's microphones and cameras, turning them into real-time surveillance devices. NSO Group's stealthiest hacking software uses "zero-click" exploits to infect targeted mobile phones without any user interaction.
Citizen Lab said signs of a "zero-click" exploit not previously identified were found in infected devices of Catalans at the end of 2019 and in early 2020 before Apple updated its mobile operating system to patch vulnerabilities. Current Catalan President Pere Aragones, whose phone was infected, according to Citizen Lab, while he served as Torra's deputy from 2018 to 2020, said "massive espionage against the Catalan independence movement is an unjustifiable disgrace, an attack on fundamental rights and democracy."