Pegasus spyware is reportedly found on the phones of Mexico undersecretary for human rights Alejandro Encinas and at least two members of his office. Encinas is one of the closest allies of Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Pegasus spyware is developed by NSO Group, and it’s usually used for public surveillance. Spyware is also repeatedly used for spying on political figures all around the world. The ally of the Mexican president is one the latest victims of Pegasus spyware. Yet, the culprit is unknown, and efforts to detect the people behind this attack continue.
Encinas has been involved in an investigation from the Mexican military over power abuses since 2018. One of the under-investigation cases is the abduction of 43 students on September 26, 2014, in Iguala, Mexico. The authorities later said all students were killed.
Pegasus spyware targeted Mexico’s President’s closest ally
The outlet continues that Pegasus spyware was first spotted in a 2022 audit by the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab research team. Additionally, Pegasus has compromised Encinas’s phone multiple times. The attack’s relationship with Iguala disappearances becomes more apparent when knowing that Encinas was targeted last year when he was attending a commission meeting to discuss the disappearances.
Encinas already blamed the military, police, some government officials, and drug cartels for Iguala disappearances. He allegedly notified President Obrador of the spying campaign. However, Obrador later tried to de-escalate the situation by refusing to blame the army for the incident.
While there is no firm evidence of who was behind the attack, Mexican anti-corruption activists Ángela Buitrago and Eduardo Bohorquez argue that the army is using Pegasus spyware to spy on Encinas and impact his investigation on Iguala disappearances.
The NSO Group said in a statement that it would check “all credible allegations” to see which customers misused the spyware. The company also added it would end its contract with the culprit. Neither Encinas nor the Mexican Defense Ministry has yet responded to the news.
The NSO Group was banned by the US in 2021 for selling spyware to authoritarian governments. Its products are reportedly used by governments to spy on activists and journalists.
2023-06-01 15:15:44