Morocco allegedly spied on Dutch journalist
Moroccan authorities allegedly attempted to spy on a Dutch journalist using hacking software. A Spanish newspaper reported that the phone number of Koen Greven appeared on a target list.
Greven served for years as NRC correspondent in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. He is now sports editor at the ANP news agency.
The Spanish newspaper El Confidencial obtained a list of phone numbers. Moroccan intelligence allegedly tried to hack them between 2018 and 2019. The list included 768 cyberattack attempts on 250 Spanish numbers.
Those attempts formed part of a much larger campaign. The operation continued until the end of 2021. In total, Morocco tried to hack more than 12,000 devices across more than 20 countries.
The spyware in question was Pegasus. It was developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. Once installed, Pegasus can secretly access messages, photos, microphone audio and camera footage.
The Moroccan domestic security service, known as the DGST, carried out the operation. Targets included journalists, Rif activists from northern Morocco, Sahrawis from Western Sahara, members of the Polisario Front independence movement and foreign security officials.
Amnesty International has stressed that these were infection attempts. Success is not automatic. Each phone requires forensic examination to confirm a breach.
Greven said he can easily understand why his number was listed. He frequently traveled to Morocco and reported on protests in the Rif mountains in the north of the country.
"I was once asked by the security service to leave the country," Greven told ANP.
In a 2018 column for NRC, he wrote that Moroccan security services traveled with him on reporting trips.
Greven does not know whether his phone was actually hacked. He no longer uses the Spanish number that appeared on the list. He plans to take no further action.
Morocco has previously denied using Pegasus. After earlier revelations, the country filed lawsuits against several European media outlets. Those lawsuits were unsuccessful, El Confidencial reported.
