Israel launches commission to probe Pegasus spyware: Legislator

The tech sold by Israeli firm appears to be behind possible mobile hacking of heads of state, activists and journalists.

Israel has established a commission to review allegations that NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus phone surveillance software was misused amid a hacking scandal that has roiled governments globally. The announcement on Thursday by the head of the Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee came amid revelations that the Israeli firm’s spyware appears to have been used by governments in the surveillance of heads of states, opposition figures, activists and journalists, whose names were among some 50,000 potential targets on a list leaked to rights group Amnesty International and Paris-based Forbidden Stories. The revelations sparked calls for accountability and increased controls on the international sale of spyware technology. Pegasus can hack into mobile phones without a user knowing, enabling clients to read every message, track a user’s location and tap into the phone’s camera and microphone.