EU Authorities Investigate Pegasus Spyware. Then it ended up on one of their phones

The investigation stops short of naming any government that may have used Pegasus against Kouloglou, specifically that it found nothing about the Greek government. But Citizen Lab says it found a link between the attack on Kouloglou’s phone and the use of Pegasus against it. seven Russian- and Belarusian-speaking journalists and activists between August 2020 and January 2023.

“They didn’t just look at the MEP, they looked at the research on the abuse of spyware itself. This shows the nonsense of everything that’s going on,” Hannah Neumann, a Green MEP who served on the spyware committee, tells WIRED.

A spokesperson for the European Parliament did not specifically explain the findings when asked about them by WIRED, but said it has a “spyware monitoring system” available to all MEPs and soon. he adopted a strategy increasing its security.

Kouloglou’s phone was first infected while in the hospital on October 21, 2022, according to information from Citizen Lab. While recovering from elective surgery, he was visited by Greek investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis, who performed the surgery. they have already been hacked by Predator spyware. The following week, the PEGA Committee held a series of discussions on the effects of spying programs and their impact on human rights. Members of the commission, including Kouloglou, visited Cyprus and Greece as part of its investigation.

On March 6 and 7, 2023, according to the findings, Kouloglou’s phone was also infected with Pegasus spyware. Neumann, who was also part of the investigation, says that at the time of Kouloglou’s phone call, the commission was going to “big meetings,” including questioning companies that work in the espionage industry.

By the time of the 2023 event, Neumann says, the team would be finalizing and conducting a discussion on their findings. “When we look at those days, it’s clear that someone didn’t just look at him casually, but he focused on the work of the committee,” says Neumann.

“I was angry because you realize that your private life, including messages not only with politicians, friends, but also your life with relatives, children, wives, etc., is being watched by someone,” says Kouloglou. “It is not only a matter of privacy, but also about justice, democracy and the fight against corruption.

Citizen Lab found, as part of its investigation, that Kouloglou’s phone received three notifications from Apple, in March and August 2023 and April 2024, warning him that he might be out of service. linked to spyware. These notifications are not delivered in real time and Kouloglou says he has no recollection of seeing them.

Kouloglou and other MEPs told WIRED that they were concerned that other members of the committee could also be targeted by the group. thoughts-including the creation of an EU-based technical lab focused on the analysis of law-enforcement tools and an electoral intelligence team-were not taken up years after the committee completed its report.

Citizen Lab’s Scott-Railton said: “There is a lot of espionage abuse in Europe, and nothing has been done about it—it’s a shame for European institutions. It’s leaving Europeans vulnerable even as AI promises to destroy espionage threats by lowering costs and barriers to entry.”

He added that other countries, including the United States, have taken steps to combat the use of spyware through sanctions, visa bans, executive orders, and other restrictions.

“There is no lack of awareness of the problems that come with mercenary espionage programs,” says Neumann. “That’s what the Pegasus Committee wrote the whole report about. There’s no shortage of ideas on how to fix it. It’s just a story, can you please?”