Paris: The Paris Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation on Tuesday into allegations by the Mediapart Investigation News website and two journalists that they had prepared by Morocco using Pegasus Spyware in the heart of the global scandal.
Investigation published on Sunday by 17 media organizations, led by a non-profit journalism group based in Paris, said spyware, made and licensed by the Israeli company NSO, has been used in the efforts of 37 smartphones owned by journalists, government officials and human rights activists , Mediapart said in a series of tweets on Monday that Moroccan secret service had used Pegasus to spy on two journalists.
“The only way to get to the bottom is for the judicial authority to carry out independent investigations about spidy spies held in France by Morocco,” Mediapart said in one of his tweets.
Morocco has published an official statement that rejects what is called “unfounded and false suspicion”.
The Paris prosecutor’s statement did not mention Morocco but only said he had decided to open the probe after receiving complaints by Mediapart and his journalists.
It looks like a series of potential crimes associated with cyber spies.
The Guardian, one of the media outlets involved in the investigation, said the investigation suggested “extending and sustainable abuse” of the NSO hacking software, described as malware that infects a smartphone to activate the extraction of messages, photos and emails, record calls, and silently- Silence activates the microphone.
NSO said the product was intended only to be used by government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime.
It issued a statement that denied reporting with prohibited stories and partners.