Arabic version: تم اختراق هاتف نائب البرلمان الأوروبي ببرمجيات التجسس بيغاسوس أثناء التحقيق

A former member of the European Parliament, Stelios Kouloglou, was hacked with Pegasus spyware while serving on a committee investigating surveillance by the tool’s Israeli creator, according to Al Jazeera. The Canadian research group Citizen Lab discovered that Kouloglou’s iPhone was infected at least three times in 2022 and 2023.

The incidents occurred while Kouloglou was in Athens and Brussels, coinciding with his role on the PEGA Committee, established to investigate the illegal use of Pegasus and other spying tools within the European Union. Following the breaches, Kouloglou received notifications from Apple about possible Pegasus infections months after each incident.

Citizen Lab conducted a forensic investigation of Kouloglou’s phone at his request in May. The report emphasized the serious risks that mercenary spyware poses to the integrity of democratic processes, noting that the hacking could have compromised confidential exchanges among committee members and sensitive parliamentary proceedings.

While Citizen Lab did not attribute the hacking to any specific government, it found no evidence implicating the Greek government. Pegasus, developed by Israel’s NSO Group, allows operators to gain secret control of a target’s phone, accessing messages, photos, and other sensitive information. Despite being marketed as a tool for law enforcement, the spyware has been misused against journalists and activists.

The case has raised alarms regarding democratic integrity, with officials like Rand Hammoud from the Center for Democracy and Technology Europe expressing concern over the implications for democratic oversight. German MEP Hannah Neumann called for an immediate investigation into the breaches, asserting that spyware undermines democratic values and the rule of law.