Poland to launch investigation into government’s use of NSO’s Pegasus

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After devices of several Polish opposition figures were hacked by the Israeli NSO Pegasus spyware, an investigation into its misuse is to be launched.

Poland’s Chief Auditor says he plans to initiate an investigation into Poland’s supervision of the secret services following reports of illegal surveillance of opposition figures with Pegasus spyware.

Marian Banas, President of the Supreme Audit Office, speaks before a Senate committee investigating the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

“Taking into account the recent events related to the security of the state and citizens, I made a decision to initiate immediate urgent monitoring of state supervision over secret services,” Banas said.

He said he plans to call Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s ruling right-wing party and the Deputy Prime Minister for Security, as a witness to testify under penalty of perjury.

“He should answer questions about the illegal and mass surveillance of Polish women and men,” Banas said, adding that if Kaczynski is summoned, he has to appear as per the law.

Kaczynski, the country’s most powerful politician, acknowledged last week that Poland had purchased Pegasus, claiming that it is an important tool to fight serious crime.

This comes after Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk calls for a parliamentary investigation into allegations that his country's government used Pegasus software to eavesdrop on its opponents.

Israeli Pegasus against Israelis

A report revealed that the Israeli police are spying on Israelis targeting mayors and organizers of protests against former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A press investigation published by Calcalist revealed that the Israeli company was involved in wiretapping the Israelis, using NSO's wiretapping spyware, without issuing orders authorizing it to do so.

Polish PM: No knowledge of Pegasus use

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he had "no knowledge" of any wiretapping, but that if it was proven, it might "potentially" be the work of foreign intelligence agencies.

The assertions that Polish services "use these methods in operational work for political ends" are false, according to Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for the ministry in charge of secret services.

He neither confirmed nor denied that Poland had utilized Pegasus, but he did say that "operational work" in Poland may only be done on the prosecutor general's request and with a court order.

Poland: NSO's Pegasus spyware hacks two opposition figures

Israeli NSO group Pegasus spyware was used in Poland on at least 2 confirmed occasions. The first incident was the hacking into the phone of a high-profile lawyer, Roman Giertych, who represents top Polish opposition figures took place in the final weeks of the 2019 parliamentary elections in Poland.

The second took place in 2021 when a prosecutor, Krzysztof Brejza, defying populist right-wing attempted to remove the judiciary had her smartphone hacked.

In both instances, Pegasus, the NSO military-grade spyware capable of remote zero-click surveillance of smartphones, was the perpetrator, according to investigators of the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab internet watchdog.

What is Pegasus? 

According to an investigation led by The Washington Post and 16 media partners that were published on July 18, Pegasus is military-grade spyware leased by NSO to governments who used it in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, and business executives.

The investigation discovered that 37 targeted smartphones were found on a list of more than 50,000 numbers concentrated in countries known to engage in citizen surveillance and also known to have been clients of NSO Group.

A substantial number of people were found in West Asia, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Yemen, knowing that NSO clientele is said to include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Other countries were also involved, according to the same report.