Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

German police secretly procured & USED controversial Israeli Pegasus smartphone spyware

German police secretly procured & USED controversial Israeli Pegasus smartphone spyware

German police bought and used controversial Pegasus spyware sold by the Israeli NSO group in 2019, it has been revealed. The program has allegedly been used for high-profile spying by multiple governments.
The explosive revelation was made by Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper on Tuesday and was later confirmed by AFP, citing parliament sources.

According to Die Zeit, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) opted to procure the highly-controversial software after domestic efforts to develop a home-grown program to monitor suspects’ phones flopped. The homegrown software, known only as ‘Trojan,’ has been in the works for years. While said to be functional in principle, it has never actually been used, the paper said.

Instead, the agency turned to outsourcing, getting in contact with the Israeli-based cyber-security company NSO Group, known for its Pegasus spyware. The firm maintains it works only with government entities worldwide.

First discovered back in August 2016, the program made headlines earlier this year after a collective of 17 media organizations reported that it had been used on over 50,000 high-profile targets by multiple governments. The target list included politicians, journalists and government officials from different countries, with the revelation sparking several international scandals.

Die Zeit said German authorities were in contact with the Pegasus developer since at least 2017, when a company delegation reportedly showcased the program to the BKA in Wiesbaden.

The software boasts significantly wider functionality and spying powers than potentially allowed under German laws. NSO Group is said to have developed a watered-down version of Pegasus specifically for the BKA.

The procurement process, kept secret, began back in 2019, with the BKA acquiring its version of Pegasus in 2020.

According to a separate report by Die Zeit, the BKA Vice President Martina Link also admitted to using the program, during closed-door hearings in the Bundestag interior committee on Tuesday. The BKA apparently told the committee that the program has been used in a “mid-single-digit number” of operations, some of them ongoing.

According to German laws, spying through smartphones and other electronic devices can be conducted only on individuals whose activities constitute an imminent danger, such as terrorism or organized crime. The matter is further complicated by a provision that even the dangerous suspects have a right to have a “core area of private life” protected.

While such restrictions made the original Pegasus – which gains full access to data, cameras and microphones on an infected smartphone – unfit for use in Germany, the watered-down BKA version circumvented the restrictions, with illegal data supposedly not collected. Still, the data is believed to go through the NSO Group’s servers before actually getting to the BKA. While the agency insisted the data goes only in “hashed” (in non-readable) form, legislators expressed concerns over the opacity of the process.

“This is an outsourcing of state powers of intervention, here an intervention in the area of fundamental rights is being outsourced,” digital policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Manuel Hoferlin, said as quoted by Die Zeit.

Contracting of the NSO effectively resembled “hiring a bounty hunter” and hoping they would “break into the homes of suspects” in a legal fashion, the official added.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
×