The French judiciary announced the opening of an investigation into what was revealed by the media about spying on about 30 journalists and newspaper directors, through the Pegasus program developed by the Israeli company NSO.
The investigation came after two French journalists and the institution responsible for the "Mediapart" website, filed a lawsuit regarding the aforementioned espionage.
The investigation will deal with the intrusion and penetration of an automated data processing system, the acquisition, reproduction and manipulation of data, breach of privacy, as well as the installation of hacking devices and equipment and the display of written and graphic materials without a license.
International and human rights organizations, media, the European Union and governments condemned - on Monday - what was revealed by reports of espionage operations worldwide, targeting activists and journalists through the Pegasus program developed by the Israeli company NSO.
This program, when inserted into a smartphone, allows access to messages, photos, contacts, and even listen to calls.
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On Sunday, a group of 17 international media outlets, including: the French newspapers “Le Monde”, the British “The Guardian” and the American “The Washington Post”, published a report on this program that increased Suspicions against the Israeli company.
The report is based on a list obtained by Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International of 50,000 phone numbers believed to be from people considered by NSO to be of interest since 2016.
The list includes the numbers of at least 180 journalists, 600 politicians, 85 human rights activists and 65 businessmen, according to the analysis conducted by the group, which identified many numbers in several countries.
The investigation indicated that the governments of at least 10 countries are among the customers of the Israeli company, "NSO", which are: Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, India and the UAE.
According to Israeli and American press reports, from 2016 until October 2018, Pegasus was used to eavesdrop on 175 dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists in the Arab world, Latin America, Asia, Africa and other regions.
At the end of last year, the investigative program "What is Hidden Greatest", which is broadcast on Al-Jazeera screen, succeeded in tracking the penetration of the phones of media professionals and activists to spy on them through the "Pegasus" program, through sophisticated and unusual electronic vulnerabilities.
Pegasus is used to eavesdrop on human rights activists, monitor emails, take pictures and record conversations, after phones are hacked.
NSO was founded in 2010, employs about 500 employees, and is headquartered in Tel Aviv.