Many journalists, lawyers and human rights activists in Jordan have been hacked by Israel's notorious Pegasus spyware. Important and sensitive information has been taken away by hacking their mobile phones using spy apps.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, mobile phones of more than 30 important people including journalists, lawyers and activists were hacked in Jordan. It uses the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware that has been discussed for several years. The matter came up in an investigation.
The investigation was carried out jointly by non-profit human rights consultancy organization Access Now, human rights organization Citizen Lab and several other organizations. The investigation report was released on Thursday (February 1).
It features case studies of 35 prominent individuals who were hacked by the Pegasus malware. Most of the hacks occurred between 2020 and 2023. Access Now said on the matter, we think that what has come up in the investigation is only a small part. The number of people hacked or surveilled is likely much higher.'
However, the investigation report did not accuse the Jordanian government of using spyware. However, it does indicate that the use of spyware in Jordan is associated with repression of 'citizens' rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly'. Al Jazeera reported that the Jordanian government had no comment on the report.
For the past few years, there has been a lot of discussion about this Pegasus spyware. It is a scary software that uses it to capture messages, emails, photos, call lists, location and even user photos of anyone's phone.
It can also track the location of any person. According to the report, it is even possible to break the defense system of highly protected smartphones like the iPhone in a novel way.
According to a leaked document in 2021, the phones of around 50,000 people in different countries were hacked using this software and the phone users did not know anything about it.
An Israeli technology firm called NSO has developed this software which has been sold to governments around the world like India. However, NSO claims that no one has used their Pegasus to spy on ordinary people's phones.
Last December, the joint investigation report of the human rights organization Amnesty International and the influential US newspaper Washington Post said that the Indian government is using Pegasus spyware to capture important documents of the country's top journalists, and is obstructing their conversations.
A few weeks later, another investigative report came out. Two of those targeted in Jordan were employees of Human Rights Watch. They are Adam Kugle, deputy director for Middle East and North Africa, and Hiba Zayedin, senior researcher for Jordan and Syria. Both received notifications from Apple last August, warning them that state-sponsored hackers were trying to break into their iPhones.
According to Access Now, Adam Kugle's iPhone was hacked in October 2022. Just two weeks earlier, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting the repression of citizens for peaceful political dissent, with which Adam was also associated.
According to reports, many of those targeted worked during the month-long teachers' strike in 2019. After the strike, the authorities arrested hundreds of teachers and dissolved their union. Almost half of those targeted are 16 journalists or media workers.
