According to the latest report, spyware created by the NSO Group was used by hacker groups to try to break into iPhones and devices used by senior European Commission officials, unknown attackers are trying to control EU officials in 2021.
NSO Group is known for producing software tools for surveillance, often by introducing malware into devices. The Pegasus tool is used by governments around the world and is able to penetrate iPhones, but other tools from the company appear to be used for similar purposes.
Join tip3x on Telegram
Some senior European Commission officials were targeted by the NSO tool, according to two EU officials, and documents were seen by Reuters. The list includes Didier Reynders, who has been the European justice commissioner since 2019, and at least four committee staff.
Officials at the European Commission are worried about possible problems after Apple began warning thousands of iPhone users that they were being targeted by “state-sponsored attackers.” On November 26 last year, a technologist warned colleagues on the committee to be vigilant because the committee’s employees were considered “potential targets.”
So far, it’s unclear whether the attackers managed to gain access to the targeted iPhone, or what they would gain if they did. Neither an EU spokesman nor Apple was available for comment.
Although the media discussed Pegasus at the time, it appeared that the hackers were using another tool from NSO. Security researchers say hacker groups attempted attacks using the ForcedEntry tool between February 2021 and September 2021.
The NSO Group insisted in a statement that it was not responsible for any hacking attempts and that “this could not have happened using NSO’s tools”. It did support investigations against officials and called for global rules on the spyware industry.
Discovering the misuse of NSO Group’s tools certainly didn’t help the company’s image in the aftermath of the Pegasus scandal, when the government found it was being used to spy on journalists, activists, and opponents rather than fight crime.
Moreover, the adoption of Pegasus and other tools by government agencies led U.S. lawmakers to ask Apple and the FBI about the latter’s March acquisition of NSO Group’s tools. Meanwhile, the European Parliament will set up a committee on April 19 to investigate the use of surveillance software in European member states.
