Court documents show that 11 Dutch people were hacked with the help of Israeli spyware
Pegasus, a spyware made by the Israeli company NSO, was used to spy on 11 Dutch citizens in 2019, NOS reported. The spyware can do things like read WhatsApp messages, see the person’s location, see the photo’s and video’s on the device, empty the address book, and look at the person’s internet history.
A court in the United States received a list of the number of victims per country as part of a lawsuit between WhatsApp and NSO. The list does not contain the identities of the victims, nor who deployed the spyware.
The Netherlands had the second-highest number of victims of the spyware in Europe. Only Spain had more victims (21). Most of the victims came from outside of Europe. The software was often used against people in Mexico (456 victims) and Morocco (69 victims).
The case between NSO and WhatsApp was initiated when the Israeli company allegedly used a leak in WhatsApp to install the spyware on the victims' phones in 2019. According to WhatsApp, the spyware was installed on the phones of at least 100 human rights activists and journalists. In December, the court ruled that NSO violated US law by infecting phones via WhatsApp.
Pegasus was developed to be used by intelligence and safety services to combat terrorism and serious crime. However, international investigation has shown that it has been used against journalists, lawyers, politicians, and activists.
It was reported in 2022 by the Volkskrant that the intelligence service AIVD had purchased the spyware to gather information from crime kingpin Ridouan Taghi’s telephone.
