A French prosecutor has begun an investigation into allegations the Pegasus phone hacking software was used to spy on French journalists.
The investigative news website Mediapart has claimed Morocco’s secret services had used the controversial spyware to snoop on the mobile phones belonging to two of its reporters.
Morocco has denied the allegations, but the Paris prosecutor’s office has now opened a probe into the affair.
The Pegasus software hit the headlines on the weekend after a coalition of investigative journalists around the world published leaked data which suggested the spyware had been used to target journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians.
An investigation led by the Paris-based non-profit journalism outfit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, who shared the data with several media partners, has identified 50,000 “people of interest” who may have been targeted.
Pegasus is highly sophisticated military grade software produced by the Israeli firm NSO which when covertly installed on a phone can record calls, copy messages and even turn on cameras or…
