CIA considers establishing stand-alone China mission center, report claims

August 13, 2021 by Leave a comment

CIA headquarters

THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL Intelligence Agency is weighing the possibility of establishing a stand-alone mission center that would focus on China, according to a new report. Traditionally, questions regarding China have fallen under the agency’s Mission Center for East Asia and Pacific, which focuses on the broader geographical region that includes China. However, according to the Bloomberg news agency, that may about to change.

Quoting “three current and former officials” with knowledge of “internal deliberations” at the CIA, Bloomberg said on Thursday that the proposal to establish a stand-alone China mission center orginages from the agency’s new director, William Burns. According to the report, Burns is looking for ways to “make it easier to secure headcount, funding and high-level attention for [the spy agency’s] China-related activities”.

A stand-alone China mission center would allow the CIA to utilize and combine diverse resources across its various directorates and units. Additionally, elevating the topic of China to a stand-alone mission would reflect the policy priorities of the administration of US President Joe Biden, said Bloomberg. The report comes less than a month after Burns said during an interview that the CIA might deploy China specialists at US government facilities around the world. This would mirror the agency’s approach to the challenge posed by Soviet Union during the Cold War.

During his Senate confirmation hearing in February of this year, Burns stated that he viewed China as the most serious threat to American national security in the near and long term. He added that China’s “adversarial [and] predatory leadership” aimed to “replace the United States as the world’s most powerful and influential nation”.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 13 August 2021 | Permalink

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Employee of British embassy in Berlin charged with spying for Russia

August 12, 2021 by 1 Comment

British embassy in BerlinAn employee of the British embassy in Berlin has been arrested by German authorities, who charged him with spying for the intelligence services of the Russian Federation, according to reports. The German newsmagazine Focus said on Wednesday that the employee is a 57-year-old British citizen. He was reportedly arrested on Tuesday by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). His arrest took place in Potsdam, a city located southeast of Berlin. His arrest is believed to have come as a result of a joint investigation by British and German authorities.

There appears to be some confusion about the man’s position at the British embassy. In some reports, he is referred to as a “liaison officer”, a term that describes diplomatic personnel whose job is to exchange security-related information with the relevant authorities of the host-country. However, other reports suggest that the man is locally based in Berlin, and was working as support personnel at the British embassy, without having been granted diplomatic status. This would mean that he does not have diplomatic immunity in Germany or elsewhere.

It is also believed that BKA officers searched the man’s home and workplace. According to Focus, he has been charged with carrying out espionage activities on behalf of Russian intelligence. German prosecutors said he began working for Russian intelligence in November of 2020 at the very latest. During that time, he allegedly provided classified information to his Russian handlers on at least one occasion, in exchange for cash. Media reports suggest that the information he allegedly gave the Russians relates to counter-terrorism operations. No further information is known about the case at this stage.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 12 August 2021 | Permalink

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New report sheds light on Russian private military group’s operations in Libya

August 11, 2021 by Leave a comment

Khalifa HaftarA new documentary aired on Tuesday by the BBC offers new evidence of extensive involvement in Libya by the Wagner Group, a secretive security firm believed to operate on behalf of Russian military intelligence. After first appearing in Ukraine in 2014, the company has been seen to operate around the world as a private paramilitary entity. Its mission is allegedly to afford the Kremlin “plausible deniability” capabilities for operations in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. As intelNews has explained before, there is evidence that the Kremlin provides payments to Wagner. But concrete information about the secretive firm is hard to come by, and the Russian government strongly denies having links to it.

Now, however, a new television documentary produced by the BBC claims to have uncovered reliable evidence of extensive involvement by Wagner in the Libyan conflict —as well as links between Wagner and the Russian military. Wagner personnel first appeared in Libya in April of 2020, when they were seen operating in support of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army, commanded by Field marshal Khalifa Haftar. In the spring of 2020, as the conflict was winding down, Wagner group forces retreated from areas south of the city of Tripoli, which were eventually occupied by Haftar’s rival, the Government of National Accord.

The documentary, co-produced by BBC News Russian and BBC News Arabic, is titled “Haftar’s Russian Mercenaries: Inside the Wagner Group”. It is based on the discovery of a Samsung Galaxy tablet, which was left behind in the Tripoli area by a retreating Wagner fighter. According to the BBC the information recovered from the tablet provides “unprecedented insight” into Wagner’s operations in Libya. It includes maps of the terrain in the Russian language, as well as a list of codenames used by Wagner personnel during their operations in the North African country.

Another series of documents recovered from the tablet list weapons used by the group during its operations in Libya. Acceding to the information released online by the BBC, the weapons lists include state-of-the-art radar and other military equipment, which experts claim are “only be available from the Russian military”. The documentary also lays out allegations of war crimes conducted by Wagner personnel in Libya, which include mining and even booby-trapping civilian areas.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 11 August 2021 | Permalink

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South African president abolishes security ministry, assumes control of spy agencies

August 9, 2021 by Leave a comment

Cyril Ramaphosa

IN A SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT last week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa abolished the country’s Department of State Security and assumed direct control over its spy agencies. The unexpected move was part of an extensive government reshuffle, meant to address the security shortcomings exposed by last month’s riots, which marked the worst political unrest in the country’s post-apartheid history.

Nearly 330 people died, thousands were injured, and thousands of businesses were looted in July, when extensive violent protests erupted in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The riots lasted several days following the jailing of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, for contempt of court. Zuma was facing a high-profile trial for 16 counts of corruption, racketeering, fraud, and money laundering.

In a televised announcement aired live on Thursday, Ramaphosa said he would terminate the post of security minister and abolish the Department of State Security. Instead, the country’s domestic and external intelligence agencies will from now on operate under the office of the presidency and at times report directly to the president. In this way, Ramaphosa aims to assume “political responsibility” for, as well as oversight of, intelligence programs and activities.

In explaining his decision, Ramaphosa said that the South African intelligence agencies had been “found wanting in several respects” during last month’s riots. From now on, instead of a security minister, the work of South African spy agencies will be supervised by the new Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele. His two deputies, Zizi Kodwa and Pinky Kekana, who were also appointed on Thursday, will share the task of supervising the agencies. According to Ramaphosa, the reform will “ensure that the country’s domestic and foreign intelligence services [will] more effectively enable the president to exercise his responsibility to safeguard the security and integrity of the nation”.

Speaking on South African television on Saturday, Ronnie Kasrils, South Africa’s former Minister of Intelligence Services under President Thabo Mbeki, said he supported the move. He added that the country’s leadership had received “poor service” from the intelligence community, especially from the State Security Agency (SSA), during last month’s riots. Kasrils noted that “the centralization of SSA was a good move” because it reflects “best general practice internationally”.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 09 August 2021 | Permalink

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Germany arrests wife of alleged spy for China, says she assisted his espionage work

August 5, 2021 by 1 Comment

BND Germany

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS IN THE German city of Munich have arrested the wife of a German political scientist, who was himself arrested last month on charges of spying for China. Identified as “Klara K.”, the woman is believed to be a dual citizen of Germany and Italy. She is the wife of “Klaus K.”, 75, who began his career in the 1980s as a member of staff of the political research foundation Hanns Seidel Stiftung. The Munich-based foundation is the informal think-tank of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), which is the Bavarian arm of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.

As part of his job, Klaus L. traveled frequently to countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, as well as to former Soviet states. It is also believed that, for over five decades, he worked as a paid informant for the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) —Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. On July 5, Klaus L. was arrested by the German police, and charged with spying for China. His arrest came a few weeks after his home in Munich was searched by the police, as part of an investigation into his activities.

On Monday, federal prosecutors in Munich said they had also arrested Klaus K.’s wife, Klara K. She has been charged with “regularly provid[ing] Chinese secret service officials with information in the run-up to, or after, state visits or multinational conferences” in which she and Klaus K. participated. She has also been charged with providing Chinese intelligence with “information on pertinent current issues”.

Last month, German media reported that Klaus and Klara K. were arrested shortly after returning to the Bavarian capital from Italy. The couple were on their way to the Munich International Airport, from where they were scheduled to travel to the Chinese autonomous region of Macau, allegedly in order to meet their Chinese handlers. Neither the Chinese central government, nor the Chinese embassy in Berlin, have commented on the case. The BND said on Monday that it did not “comment on matters that relate to […] intelligence information or activities”.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 05 August 2021 | Permalink

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Probe launched into suspicious death of Belarusian opposition activist in Ukraine

August 4, 2021 by Leave a comment

Minsk Belarus

Authorities in Ukraine have opened an investigation in to the death of a leading Belarusian opposition activist, whose body was found hanging from a tree near his house in Kiev, a day after he went missing. Vitaly Shishov, 26, was a vocal critic of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. For the past year, Shishov had been the director of the Belarusian House in Ukraine (BDU), an activist organization that specializes in assisting political refugees arriving in Ukraine from Belarus

Among other things, BDU is known for helping Belarusian immigrants apply for political asylum in Ukraine, as well as finding them employment and accommodation in Kiev and other Ukrainian urban centers. Alongside Poland and Lithuania, Ukraine has become a major hub for Belarusian exiles, who have been fleeing abroad in their thousands in the past year. Many of them seek to escape a violent crackdown by the authorities, which is ongoing. The crackdown is widely seen as President Lukashenko’s response to the widespread popular protests, which were prompted by his return to power, following the heavily disputed presidential election of 2020.

In addition to his work with BDU, Shishov was known as a particularly outspoken critic of the Belarusian government on social media and in blogs. He frequently organized and led large protest rallies in Kiev, many of them within sight of the Belarusian embassy there. He had also publicized the identities of people, whom he accused of being agents of the Belarusian government. He and his associates often claimed that they were being followed in the streets of Kiev by individuals whom they suspected of being in the service of the government of Belarus.

Shishov’s partner reported him missing on Monday, after he failed to return to his home from a morning jog. Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday that his body had been found hanging from a tree in a small forested area near his home. Notably, his personal cell phone and other belongings, including his wallet, were found with him. Some reports indicate that his body bore visible bruises, but forensic examinations of the body are ongoing. A Ukrainian police spokesman said on Tuesday that the possibility that Shishov’s death was a murder that had been made to look like a suicide was among several theories being examined. The Belarusian government has not commented on the case.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 04 August 2021 | Permalink

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Iranian hackers used Gmail, Facebook, to spy on US aerospace contractor

August 3, 2021 by Leave a comment

Computer hacking

A GROUP OF HACKERS, who are known to operate under the direction of the Iranian government, used fictitious Gmail and Facebook accounts to compromise employees of a United States defense contractor. A report issued on Monday by the California-based cybersecurity company Proofpoint identified the hackers behind the espionage campaign as members of a group codenamed Threat Actor 456 (TA456).

Known also as Imperial Kitten and Tortoiseshell, TA456 has a history of pursuing espionage targets at the direction of the Iranian government. According to Proofpoint, TA456 is among “the most determined” Iranian-aligned threat actors. The cybersecurity firm adds that the espionage activities of TA456 often target Western “defense industrial base contractors” that are known to specialize in the Middle East.

The most recent operation by TA456 involved a fictitious online personality that went by the name “Marcella Flores”, also known as “Marcy Flores”, who claimed to live in the British city of Liverpool. The group used a Gmail account and fake Facebook profile to reinforce the fictitious profile’s credibility, and to approach employees of United States defense contractors. One such employee began corresponding with Flores on Facebook toward the end of 2019.

In June 2021, after having cultivated the relationship with the defense employee for over a year, Flores sent the employee a link to a video file, purportedly of herself. The file contained a malware, known as LEMPO, which is designed to search targeted computers and provide the hacker party with copies of files found on penetrated systems.

Facebook is apparently aware of the espionage campaign by TA456. Last month, the social media company said it had taken action “against a group of hackers in Iran [in order] to disrupt their ability to use their infrastructure to abuse [Facebook’s] platform, distribute malware and conduct espionage operations across the internet, targeting primarily the United States”.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 03 August 2021 | Permalink

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Polish government re-arrests former Huawei official accused of spying for China

August 2, 2021 by 1 Comment

Huawei PolandPOLAND’S COUNTERINTELLIGENCE SERVICES HAVE arrested for the second time a former executive of the Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei Technologies, who is accused of spying for Beijing. As intelNews has previously reported, Wang Weijing was arrested in early 2019 in Poland, as part of an investigation of Huawei’s operations in the Polish capital Warsaw. The probe involved the seizure of electronic hardware and documents from Huawei’s offices, as well as the arrest of another man, identified as Piotr Durbajlo, who was allegedly being handled by Wang.

Durbajlo, a Polish national, is allegedly a mid-level executive of Orange, a French-headquartered telecommunications carrier that is Huawei’s main domestic partner in Poland. Polish media also reported at the time that, prior to joining Orange, Piotr D. served as deputy director of an unnamed Polish intelligence agency. That agency is now believed to be the country’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), which is Poland’s equivalent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. Polish counterintelligence also searched Wang’s house, in which he reportedly lived for over a decade, after having learned Polish at the Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Interestingly, Huawei announced that it had decided to fire Wang soon after his arrest, saying that his actions had “no relation to the company”. In July of 2019, after six months of pre-trial detention, Durbajlo was released on a $31,500 bail, pending trial. Before the end of the year, Wang was also released on bail —allegedly in order to appease Chinese government officials, who were seeking at the time to deepen economic ties between Beijing and Warsaw.

Late last week, however, the ABW announced that Wang had been detained again, after a judge in the Polish capital reversed an earlier decision to release the suspect, in response to an appeal by the ABW. The former Huawei executive is now once again in pre-trial detention in Warsaw. He denies all charges against him and has pleaded not guilty to espionage. Meanwhile, hearings and depositions in the case of Wang and Durbajlo are continuing to take place behind closed doors. Each of the two suspects faces up to 15 years in prison, if found guilty.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 02 August 2021 | Permalink

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Ex-Spanish King’s former mistress claims intelligence service spied on her

July 30, 2021 by 1 Comment

Juan Carlos ITHE EX-MISTRESS OF SPAIN’S former king has sued him in a British court, claiming that he deployed agents from Spain’s intelligence service in a “campaign of unlawful covert and over surveillance” against her. Juan Carlos I, 83, was king of Spain from 1975 until his abdication from the throne in 2014. He now lives in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates, having left Spain in August. His departure came amidst a barrage of media reports revealing his involvement in a host of financial scandals, which are still being investigated by Spain’s authorities.

In 2012, it became known that the king had a six-year love affair with German-born Danish business consultant Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, 57, who is based in Britain. Since the end of the affair, in 2009, it is alleged that Carlos has been trying to retrieve nearly £60 million ($84 million), which he reportedly gifted to Wittgenstein when they were lovers. According to some media reports, Wittgenstein claims that the funds were given to her by the then-monarch “as an expression of his love” for her.

Late last year, Wittgenstein filed a lawsuit in Britain, in which she accuses her former lover of a campaign of harassment against her. She also claims that he employed agents of the Spanish National Intelligence Agency (Centro Nacional de Inteligencia , or CNI) to spy on her. The lawsuit, made public on Wednesday, alleges that, starting in 2012, current or former CNI agents were deployed by the ex-king to keep Wittgenstein “under physical surveillance”. Wittgenstein’s lawyers claim that she was followed throughout Europe, and that her personal cellphones and computers were hacked by the CNI, or by private investigators. They also claim that a team of spies broke into her estate in Britain, and installed surveillance equipment through a “perfectly drilled hole” in her bedroom window.

The business consultant is now asking for a large sum —believed to be in the tens of millions of euros— to be paid to her as compensation for alleged damages caused to her reputation. She is also asking for a restraining order against Carlos, the CNI, and anyone working for the ex-king. The former monarch denies the charges.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 30 July 2021 | Permalink

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Taiwan’s former deputy defense minister implicated in espionage investigation

July 29, 2021 by Leave a comment

National Defense University Taiwan

THE FORMER THIRD-IN-command at Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense is being investigated in connection with an alleged Chinese espionage operation that targeted Taiwanese military officials, according to reports. General Chang Che-Ping served as Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of National Defense from July 2019 until June of this year. Upon leaving his position, he assumed the presidency of Taiwan’s National Defense University, which is the island nation’s foremost military academy.

Taiwanese and other Southeast Asian media reported on Wednesday that General Chang is under investigation for allegedly sharing Taiwanese defense secrets with a man referred to as an intelligence officer working for China. The man has been named only as “Xie” in the Taiwanese media. He reportedly made regular trips to Taiwan from Hong Kong in recent years, pretending to be a business executive. In reality, however, Xie is believed to have operated in Taiwan as an intelligence officer for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense’s Central Military Commission (CMC). The CMC is chaired by China’s President, Xi Jinping, and functions as the country’s highest military policy-making institution.

During his multiple trips to Taiwan, Xie is believed to have met repeatedly with a number of Taiwanese military officials, including General Chang. Subsequently, Xie hosted the general’s wife during a trip she made to Hong Kong —though it is claimed that he did not cover the cost of the trip. It is not known whether General Chang’s wife is also a subject of the investigation, which is being conducted by the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office. One of its spokesmen said on Wednesday that another matter, which relates to the case of General Chang, is also being investigated, but he refused to provide further information.

General Chang is the highest-ranking government official in Taiwan to be investigated in an espionage-related case in over 30 years. According to reports, he has offered to cooperate fully with the investigators. He has not been detained or charged for the time being.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 29 July 2021 | Permalink

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Jordanian intelligence thwarted Islamic State plan to kill soldiers in Jordan, Israel

July 28, 2021 by Leave a comment

Ghor es-Safi Jordan

THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES OF Jordan allegedly thwarted a plan by a cell of Islamic State fighters to carry out an armed attack across two countries, with the ultimate aim of killing Jordanian and Israeli troops. The state-owned Jordanian newspaper Al-Ra’I said on Tuesday that the attack was to be carried out in Gawr as-Safi, a sparsely inhabited area of the Jordan Valley, which is adjacent to the southern portion of Israel’s Dead Sea region.

The paper said that Jordan’s General Intelligence Department caught on to a suspected Islamist militant in December of 2020. The suspect led them to a larger cell of three other militants, who were arrested in February of this year. Their goal was reportedly to attack a Jordanian border post in Gawr as-Safi and kill the border guards there. They then planned to cross into Israel and open fire on Israeli soldiers, with the aim of killing them, in what appears to have been planned as a murder-suicide mission.

In the indictment of the four men, Jordanian authorities claim that they were found to be hoarding a cache of weapons, which they planned to use to carry out their attack in Jordan and Israel. They now face charges of conspiring to commit an act of terrorism and propagating the ideology of the Islamic State, which the Jordanian government designates as an international terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, a new assessment of the Islamic State by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the United Nations’ Security Council, warns that the militant organization remains strong in parts of the Middle East. The report, issued this week, recognizes that the Islamic State has suffered setbacks in recent years. But it cautions against dismissing the threat, noting that the militant group “has evolved into an entrenched insurgency” that is “exploiting weaknesses in local security to find safe havens and [is] targeting [government] forces” across the region.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 28 July 2021 | Permalink

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Settlement reached in spying scandal that rocked Credit Suisse

July 26, 2021 by Leave a comment

Credit Suisse

CREDIT SUISSE, ONE OF the world’s most powerful banking firms, has announced that a settlement has been reached in a case in which it stood accused of having paid private investigators to spy at former executives. The case, which shocked Swiss public opinion in recent years, prompted the resignation of several Credit Suisse senior officials, and some claim it may have prompted a suicide.

In October of 2019, two senior Credit Suisse executives resigned amidst a high-stakes espionage operation, whose alleged target was Iqbal Khan, the former Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse’s wealth-management division. Khan alleged that, once he left the firm, he was spied on by private investigators paid for by Credit Suisse. In a dramatic turn of events, one of the private investigators involved in the case, described as “an external security expert”, who mediated between Credit Suisse and the investigation firm, committed suicide.

At the time, Credit Suisse described the surveillance on Khan as “strictly an isolated incident”. Later, however, two more Credit Suisse executives came forward alleging that they too had been spied on after leaving their job at the firm. These allegations prompted concerns that spying on former —and even current employees— may have been a standard operating procedure at Credit Suisse.

There is now a strong chance the allegations will never be investigated fully. On Sunday, a Credit Suisse spokesperson announced that the lawsuits brought by Khan against the firm, as well as against the private detectives who allegedly spied on him, would be dropped. The move followed a settlement between the three sides, which was reached out of court. When asked about the financial terms of the settlement, the spokesperson said no comment would be made about that.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 26 July 2021 | Permalink

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More evidence uncovered of Chinese spy programs that target expatriates

July 23, 2021 by Leave a comment

Chinese Ministry of State Security

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE activities of China’s state security apparatus has uncovered more evidence of the existence of a worldwide spy operation aimed at forcibly repatriating fugitives and dissidents living abroad, including many who reside in Western countries. The operation, code-named FOXHUNT (first reported in 2015), and a sister-project, code-named SKYHUNT, were launched in 2014. They reportedly constitute a major pillar of the nationwide campaign against corruption, which was initiated in 2012 by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. This extensive campaign is so far believed to have led to the indictment of over 100,000 people for financial crimes, though critics say it is also being used by Xi to neutralize political opponents and dissidents across China.

The investigative group ProPublica, which carried out the study of FOXHUNT and SKYHUNT, said on Thursday that the same techniques used to capture international fugitives wanted for financial crimes, are also employed against expatriates who criticize the Chinese state’s politics. Most of the targets of these operations live in countries that are located near China —such as Vietnam, Laos, or Malaysia. Thousands of others, however, live in Western Europe, Australia and the United States, where “hundreds of people, including US citizens”, have been targeted by the Chinese state, according to ProPublica.

Operations FOXHUNT and SKYHUNT are carried out by “undercover repatriation teams” of Chinese government agents, who allegedly enter foreign countries “under false pretenses”, according to ProPublica. At the same time, Chinese intelligence officers enlist expatriates as assets and use them as “intermediaries to shield Chinese officers”, said the report. These intermediaries are coached to “relentlessly hound their targets”, or surveil their activities and report about them to their handlers.

In several countries, including Vietnam and Australia, Chinese “undercover repatriation teams” have at times abducted their targets, “defying with impunity [local] laws” and international borders, the ProPublica report claims. But in countries like the United States, the Chinese tread more lightly, relying mainly on coercion aimed at compelling their targets to voluntarily return to China. In many cases, according to the report, authorities in China have subjected their targets’ family members to “harassment, jail [or] torture”. Allegedly, they have even recorded “hostage-like videos” that were shown to the targets of the repatriation operations, in an effort to force them to return to China.

Alongside wealthy Chinese tycoons with oversized offshore bank accounts, repatriation targets have reportedly included political dissidents and whistleblowers who had managed to escape abroad. Other victims were members of the Tibetan or Uighur communities in exile, as well as followers of religious sects, such as the Falun Gong. The Chinese government denies that operations FOXHUNT and SKYHUNT exist. But critics claim that Beijing’s forced repatriation program is real, and reflects “the authoritarian nature of the Chinese government and their use of government power to enforce conformity and repress dissent”, ProPublica reports.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 23 July 2021 | Permalink

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Alleged Pegasus phone-tapping list includes phones of at least 14 heads of state

July 22, 2021 by Leave a comment

Emmanuel Macron

AT LEAST FOURTEEN CURRENT or former heads of state, including presidents, prime ministers, and one king, are included in a list of 50,000 telephone numbers that were allegedly compromised through a controversial surveillance software. Known as Pegasus, the controversial spyware is marketed by NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli digital surveillance company based near Tel Aviv.

Pegasus is able to install itself on targeted telephones without requiring their users to click a link, or download an application. Upon installation, it provides the spying party with near-complete control of a targeted telephone. This includes the ability to browse through the device’s contents, such as photographs and videos, record conversations, as well as activate the telephone’s built-in microphone and camera at any time, without its user’s consent or knowledge.

Earlier this week, a consortium of newspapers from several countries said they had analyzed a leaked list of 50,000 victims of Pegasus, which allegedly includes the names of senior government officials, lawyers, labor leaders, human-rights activists and investigative journalists in almost every country. New in a new report, The Washington Post, which participated in the initial investigation into Pegasus, claims that the leaked list contains the names of 14 current or former heads of state.

According to the newspaper, the list contains telephone devices belonging to three presidents, France’s Emmanuel Macron (pictured), South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, and Iraq’s Barham Salih. The telephone devices of three current prime ministers are also on the list, says The Post. These are, Morocco’s Saad-Eddine El Othmani, Egypt’s Mostafa Madboul, and Pakistan’s Imran Khan.

Also on the list are three former prime ministers, who were in office when they were allegedly targeted by Pegasus users: France’s Édouard Philippe, Belgium’s Charles Michel, Italy’s Romano Prodi, Lebanon’s Saad Hariri, Kazakhstan’s Bakitzhan Sagintayev, Uganda’s Ruhakana Rugunda, Algeria’s Noureddine Bedoui, and Yemen’s Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr. A telephone number belonging to the king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, is also reportedly on the list. Finally, the list allegedly includes several senior officials of international organizations, including the head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The Post report also includes part of a statement by NSO Group Technologies, in which the company says it keeps tabs on the use of its software by its clients, and has the power to block any misuse of Pegasus. The company also states that it intends to “continue to investigate all credible claims of misuses [of Pegasus] and take appropriate action” if needed, including “shutting down of a customers’ system”, which it has done “multiple times in the past and will not hesitate to do again if a situation warrants”.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 22 July 2021 | Permalink

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France launches probe into spying on media by Moroccan intelligence services

July 21, 2021 by Leave a comment

NSO Group

PROSECUTORS IN FRANCE HAVE opened an investigation into claims that the intelligence services of Morocco spied on French journalists’ phones, using a controversial surveillance software marketed by an Israeli firm. Since 2018, IntelNews has covered the controversial spyware, Pegasus, and its maker, NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli digital surveillance company based in Herzliya, a small coastal town located north of Tel Aviv.

The Pegasus surveillance software is able to install itself on targeted telephones without requiring their users clicking a link, or downloading an application. It then provides the spying party with near-complete control over the targeted telephone. Among other things, it gives the spying party the ability to browse through the telephone’s contents, including photographs and videos, record telephone conversations, as well as activate the telephone’s built-in microphone and camera at any time, without its user being aware that these devices are on.

Earlier this week, an investigative report published by a consortium of newspapers, including The Washington Post (United States), Le Monde (France) and The Guardian (United Kingdom), claimed that Pegasus’ victims number in their tens of thousands. Reporters said they had analyzed a leaked list of 50,000 victims of Pegasus, which include senior government officials, lawyers, labor leaders, human-rights activists and investigative journalists in almost every country in the world.

The recent revelations have made headlines in France, where the names of well-known journalists from several newspapers, magazines and news agencies feature on the leaked list of Pegasus’ victims. On Tuesday, the French investigative website Mediapart filed a legal complaint, claiming that two members of its staff, including its founder, Edwy Plenel, had been spied on by the Moroccan intelligence services through the Pegasus software. Another French investigative outlet, the newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, said it would also launch a complaint against the intelligence services of Morocco. More media outlets are expected to follow suit.

NSO Group Technologies denies that its Pegasus software is being used maliciously, and claims that it only sells the software to government agencies who use it in legitimate law enforcement investigations. The government of Morocco also denied the claims against its intelligence agencies, saying that it “never acquired computer software to infiltrate communication devices”.

However, the Office of the Paris Prosecutor said on Tuesday that it had launched an official investigation on the use of the Pegasus software by Moroccan intelligence. In a statement published on its website, the prosecutor’s office said it would examine the complaints by media companies from the perspective of as many as 10 possible charges, including criminal association, fraudulent access to personal electronic devices, and breach of personal privacy.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 21 July 2021 | Permalink

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